On my Linkedin profile, I set up a poll, asking people how they would ideally work in 2022. Of course, no matter what we want, it is always others who set the rules, such as the employers and the government.
However, here you can read 4 reasons why people would rather work at home – or at least be free to choose!
- Anxiety
The constant restrictions and lockdowns, as forecasted, they had a serious toll on everyone’s mental health. Some are extremely anxious when they think they have to go back to work. On one hand, some simply forgot how to interact with others, especially those toxic ones and on the other hand, even if they are vaccinated, with all this confusion caused by the measures and the media, they do not feel safe. Will everyone ever be fully protected?
- Convenience
Let’s face it, it is convenient. Many people used to commute for hours every day. I once used to commute for two and half hours back and forth. This is such a waste of time and energy. The majority of people have suddenly at least one additional hour every day to spend any way they like, whether it is to relax, sleep, exercise, play, socialize, cook healthy meals, or anything else.
- It works
Micromanagers though of remote working just like vampires think of garlic. They believed that it would weaken them. Employees also worried how teleworking would feel like. Nowadays, everyone knows that remote working is at least equally effective, if it is done the right way. Therefore people feel more confident now because they know it works.
- They never liked it anyway
Most of all, the majority of people over 30, they absolutely hate open space offices. They provide no privacy and no silence. On the contrary, they provide unlimited interruptions and distractions. According to the Harvard Business Review, “when the firms switched to open offices, face-to-face interactions fell by 70%.” Giant corporations set a trend that mainly had downsides. The major upside was for the corporations as it reduced costs of separate offices or at least cubicles.
Remote working has never been easier and it is outrageous that we still see companies forbidding it instead of promoting and listening to people’s needs.
The poll was answered by approximately 7,500 people! 27% of the voters are certain that they want to work exclusively remotely while 51% said that they want to have the opportunity to go once a while to the office (once a month for example). 18% of the voters want to spend half their time at the office and half their time working at home and only 4% of the people who answered want to work 100% on-site. Impressive, isn’t it?