You’re still working from home, aren’t you? So are your neighbors. And for a lot of you, this will become a permanent arrangement.
Many companies have decided to make remote work permanent. Thousands of other businesses, however, are asking: When, if ever, can we return to a normal office routine?
New York City’s buildings were given the all-clear in July to begin reopening their office spaces. Even so, few companies opted to go back. The social distancing regulations were too complicated, the threat of exposure to the virus on public transit was too great, and employees had adapted to remote working in a way that made it difficult to justify yet another change.
Companies that have tried to summon workers back have run into expected complications. JPMorgan Chase, for example, had to send its employees home last week after someone in its Manhattan building tested positive for the coronavirus. In an attempt to avoid this scenario (and save money), some companies have decided to do away with their office leases altogether.
You can see the aftershocks in the closure of all the downtown lunch joints and happy hour watering holes.
“Office demand has drastically shrunk, [and] most companies are in a wait and see mode,” Adam Segal, the CEO and co-founder of Cove, told Business. “This has led to every organization reconsidering the role of the office and its place in the future of work moving forward.”
But one thing most people can agree on is that office spaces are still necessary. Actually seeing and speaking to your colleagues can be helpful, and sometimes even necessary, when it comes to getting your job done well.
JPMorgan’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, reportedly told analysts in a private meeting that one of the reasons the financial firm is intent upon returning to the office is because working from home “seems to have impacted younger employees, and overall productivity and ‘creative combustion’ has taken a hit.” A spokesman for the company later clarified that productivity was not just down among younger workers, but among all employees.
Several studies over the past few months can confirm that productivity is, in fact, down — and remote working certainly shares part of the blame. But given the many financial and bureaucratic hurdles that stand between companies and a return to the office, people should expect to continue working from home for a long while yet.
