This March marks five years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, which lasted from 2020 until mid-2022. Faced with social isolation, a lot of adaptation was necessary, including in the job market. Those who didn't have to close their doors right away, like retail workers, started adopting home office, and this was the great salvation of the time. However, we increasingly see that this work model is being abandoned. The question is: why?
I've noticed for some time now that companies are moving to require their employees to go to the office to work in a presencial model several times a week or every day, thus ending the work-from-home arrangement. The explanation for this is to promote greater interaction among team members and also to increase productivity, preventing distractions and enabling greater focus.
In addition, we can see that even remote job vacancies are much harder to find than before. Whether on LinkedIn or recruitment platforms like Gupy, remote work opportunities are increasingly scarce for most fields, while in-person positions are constantly rising, and I feel that this trend will continue.
I see the situation as a "fault" of both parties, because we know that many employees pretend to work from home, leaving the house at working hours and engaging in other tasks, leaving the main thing – which is commitment to the company – in the background. This behavior ends up harming those who do everything right and are paying the bill along with this group of people.
The truth is that some people don't know how to work based on trust, which ends up being quite harmful to the relationships we need to establish in the work environment, whether online or in person. Spotify said they intend to continue working remotely because they are adults. Maybe this works well for them because they were born this way. But the vast majority of the population is not like that, unfortunately.
On the other hand, although it seems that we have made some progress, I still perceive a lack of preparedness in companies' management to deal with workers in the remote model, and this happens because they are unable to exercise qualified leadership and resort to micromanagement. This need to constantly know what the other person is doing and to excessively demand ends up being exhausting.
The point is that both employees and companies are in this boat together and will face the consequences. I believe that abandoning the home office and adopting 100% in-person work is not a good choice. Once organizations take this attitude, they may end up losing talent, especially because they live far from the location and the daily expenses will not be financially worthwhile. Some functions and circumstances can facilitate remote work, where both the company and the employee truly benefit. But again, if there is no trust, it won't work.
Furthermore, it has been proven that the home office model is capable of improving people's quality of life, especially in relation to time, because it saves many workers from the need to leave home very early and spend hours in traffic. This time can be better utilized, whether to rest, do some physical activity, or any other task the person wishes.
The fact is that there has always been and still is a middle ground: hybrid work can be a good solution for companies. However, we need to be fair; it's not enough to have 4 days in person, only 1 day of remote work, and call it "hybrid." We need to be fairer and create a balance so that employees perceive that they are truly experiencing both: in-person work and remote work.
However, it will be necessary to repeat what was already said during the pandemic – companies need to learn and be prepared to deal with a team that is online, creating strategies to include them and be able to exercise leadership even remotely. While employees should be responsible for their work, delivering productivity and quality even from home. And we know it is possible.
Why is home office increasingly being abandoned?
