This March marks five years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, that extended from 2020 to mid-2022. In the face of social isolation, it required a lot of adaptation, including, in the job market. Who didn't need to close the doors right away, as retail workers, started to adopt home office and that was the great salvation of the time. However, increasingly we see that this work model is being abandoned. The question is: why
I have noticed for some time a movement from companies to make their employees go to the office to work in person many times a week or every day, thus ending the home office. The explanation for this is to promote greater interaction among team members and also to increase productivity, preventing them from getting distracted and having greater focus
Inclusive, we can see that even remote job openings are much harder to find than before. Whether on LinkedIn or on recruitment platforms like Gupy, fewer and fewer remote job opportunities are appearing for the vast majority of fields, given that in-person vacancies are on a constant rise and I feel that the trend is for it to continue this way
I see the situation as a "blame" of both parties, because we know that many employees pretend to work from home, leaving home during working hours and dedicating oneself to other tasks, leaving the main – what is the commitment to the company – in the background. This behavior ends up harming those who do everything right and who are paying the bill along with this group of people
The truth is that some people do not know how to work on the basis of trust, what ends up being quite harmful to the relationships we need to establish in the work environment, be it online or in person. Spotify said it intends to continue operating 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 continue to notice a lack of preparation in companies' management in dealing with workers in the remote model, and this happens because they are unable to exercise qualified leadership and resort to micromanagement. This need to want to know at all times what the other 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 suffer the consequences. I believe that abandoning remote work and adopting 100% in-person is not a good choice. From the moment organizations take this attitude, they may end up losing talents, especially because they live far from the location and the expenses they will have every day will not be financially worthwhile. Some functions and circumstances can facilitate remote work, where really – both the company and the employee – keep winning. But, anew, if there is no trust, it won't work
Furthermore, it has been proven that the home office model can improve people's quality of life, mainly in relation to time, because it can save many workers from the need to leave home very early and spend hours in traffic. This time can be better utilized, be to rest, to do any physical activity or any other task that the person wishes
The fact is that there is and has always been a middle ground: hybrid work can be a good solution for companies. However, we need to be fair, it's no use having 4 days of in-person, 1 day only of home office and wanting to call it "hybrid". We need to be fairer and create a balance, so that employees realize they are actually having both experiences: in-person work and remote work
However, it will be necessary to repeat what had already been said back in the pandemic era – companies need to learn and be prepared to deal with a team that is online, creating strategies to include them and manage to exercise leadership even remotely. While employees must take responsibility for their work, delivering productivity and quality even at home. And we know that it is possible
Why is remote work being increasingly abandoned
