The coronavirus pandemic has reshaped how most American workers do their jobs; however, will the temporary fix of working from home become an unexpected way to save money and increase productivity? This article explores the perceived benefits of working from home and rejects the idea of remote work becoming the “new normal.”
In support of his comments, the columnist provides a few instances when people were forced to work from home due to other health emergencies but eventually came back to their offices. Even though telecommunication has evolved along with the Internet, there are no sufficient reasons to believe that the cycle won’t repeat itself.
The author bases his conclusion on the following ideas: managers don’t always trust their employees to work from home; not all tasks can be done without close supervision or face to face interaction; managers have a hard time providing clear directions on what needs to be done; remote work is more effective for “self-contained tasks;” and “remote teams” require frequent interaction to be successful in normal circumstances. Additionally, the increase in productivity might be a misperception produced by a reduced workload during the pandemic.
Finally, the author comments about the frustration that HR managers would feel if they found out that all the guidelines they have followed to increase employee satisfaction and productivity are now obsolete. Ultimately, employees might be forced to become independent contractors by employers that are trying to save money, which would erase work benefits and affect employees. Based on this article, the possibilities of making remote work the norm are slim; frequent real-life interaction is vital for better work results in most fields.
A different perspective is explored in another of our blogs, which summarized an article in favor of making remote work permanent.