Remote Working – The Latest News: September

Each month, we bring you the most interesting news stories from across the Globe on remote work and how companies are adapting to remote, here’s our September round-up

UK Government U-turns on back to work scheme and urges employees to work from home if they can

The UK Government backtracked from its return to work scheme, and encouraged employees to work from home if they can, until further notice.  The move was part of a raft of measures aimed at slowing the rise in cases, but speculation that a full lock-down is imminent, remains rife.  Meanwhile, the Welsh Government, which hadn’t followed suit in urging workers back to their offices, has indicated that they hope to see a third of the workforce working at or near home in the long term, in a bid to reduce congestion and pollution and improve work-life balance.  The Welsh Government is looking at ways to develop a network of “community based working hubs”

The Wall Street Journal collated the verdict on remote work from leading CEOs

The Wall Street Journal collated the verdict on remote work from a number of top executives, from Netflix to BlackRock, juxtaposing wildly different conclusions.  Some (like the Netflix boss) felt there were no benefits to being remote, whilst others suggested that a 100% return to the office was unlikely, suggesting they would be planning for 60-70% of employees in-office on a rotational basis.  Warren Buffet demonstrated his usual adaptability “when change happens in the world, you adjust to it”, whilst Tim Cook the CEO of Apple suggested things would never go back to how they were – as “there are some things that actually work really well, virtually”  Some applauded the opportunities to recruit from a wider talent pool whilst others lamented the lack of social interaction and the impact of that, or the challenge of “scheduling innovation” remotely.  Read the full article here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-ceos-really-think-about-remote-work-11600853405

Google advocates for a hybrid work from home and office model – will it be the first of many businesses to do so?

Meanwhile, Google has announced that it will adopt a hybrid work from home model, having surveyed employees who overwhelmingly want to work from home “some of the time”.  Over 60% of google employees favored a hybrid part-home/part-office model of working, so the beomoth is busy working on plans to rearrange its offices to a more flexible work model.  Only 10% of employees said they didn’t want to come into the office at all, reaffirming that occasional office interaction is a vital ingredient in creative collaboration and effective teamwork, but that it doesn’t need to be an every day occurrence.

More companies announce plans to allow employees to work remotely, permanently

Business Insider rounded up almost 20 companies that have announced plans to allow employees to work remotely long term, including Google, American Express, Uber and Airbnb. Read the full article here: https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-asking-employees-to-work-from-home-due-to-coronavirus-2020?r=US&IR=T

CNBC reported on the challenge of making open-plan offices safe to return to work, and the fundamental shifts occuring in big-tech’s work remote policies.

CNBC presented on the challenges for the modern-day office, with its emphasis on communal working, socialising and relaxing.  The communal cafeterias, gyms and open-plan work spaces favoured by big-tech companies will need to adapt, to be able to bring employees back to work safely – even if they only plan for staff to be in the office some of the time.  They cited a Korean study which showed the rise in infections in an open-plan office in Korea, and noted that big-tech will make massive structural changes, over the coming months, to their office and remote work plans.  Facebook for example anticipates 50% of their employees working remotely within the next 5-10 years, and three quarters of their staff expressed an interest in moving to a new location.

BBC notes inequalities in remote working – with lower paid demographics less likely to be able to transition to remote.

The BBC focused on equality in home-work set-ups, citing research by the University of Chicago which looked at 800 occupations to assess which could be done remotely – they calculated that just over a third of jobs could effectively be done from home, but also highlighted that those jobs most suited to remote working were the white-collar, high paid jobs in big cities.   They concluded that the least well-off will feel the brunt of the impact from the pandemic in terms of job security, and also commented on the impact of an exodus from offices in cities, on lower paying jobs like taxi drivers, cleaners and hospitality staff.  https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200921-what-remote-jobs-tell-us-about-inequality

Reuters reported on the KPMG survey, which indicates office downsizing imminent

Two-thirds of large companies plan to downsize their office space, according to a KPMG survey which showed that 80% of business leaders were catalysing their plans toward digital expansion during lockdown.  KPMG’s Chairman Bill Thomas suggested that hybrid models were quickly becoming a new part of everyday reality.  The survey also indicated that recruitment and retention became a key risk for CEOs over the next few years, as three quarters of respondents noted that their pool of job candidates has increased.