Bosses Want Workers Back in the Office. Can They Force You to Return?
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Here's your money briefing for Tuesday, September 6th. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. Now that Labor Day is behind us, many companies and bosses are saying it's time to fold up that work desk in your living room and come back to the office. No, really this time.
We have seen this message before. A lot of companies last fall really hoped they'd be able to get people back, and it didn't work. We haven't seen office occupancy really budge beyond even 50%.
So how are companies planning on getting employees to come back this time? And how can you make the most of your return to the office? We'll ask WSJ workplace and management reporter Chip Cutter about that after the break.
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After people have been working from home for the past two years, companies are turning up the pressure on their employees to return to the office. But how hard can they push workers to come back? And whatever happened to hybrid work schedules and flexibility? Wall Street Journal workplace reporter Chip Cutter looked into those issues, and he joins me now. Hey, Chip, thank you very much for being with us. Thanks for having me. So, Chip, we've seen companies encouraging workers to return to the office for much of the past year.
Why are companies intensifying post–Labor Day pushes to bring employees back to the office?
Why is there such a big push now?
While many executives say with school back in session and the weather still warm in many places, a post-Labor Day return is really their best hope at getting workers back in an office before the fall and winter holidays. A lot of CEOs and others have said if there's any chance to get people back, it's right now.
But we've seen past campaigns by companies to get workers back in the office fail. You know, last Labor Day comes to mind. What's different this time?
Well, right now we're seeing COVID-19 hospitalizations and cases fall. We've also seen sort of a cultural shift where a number of workers have grown accustomed to living with the virus in their lives. They're less hesitant to return to an office. But we have seen this message before. A lot of companies last fall really hoped they'd be able to get people back. And it didn't work. We haven't seen office occupancy really budge beyond even 50% in 10 of the big U.S. markets tracked by some of the security providers. And so it's a bit of wait and see even now to hear if these messages will actually work.
Yeah, but we've talked on the show before about how important flexibility is to not only current employees, but to applicants that companies are competing to hire. How are companies working that into their plan?
Well, companies are still, in many cases, offering hybrid schedules. So they might say, we really do want to see you in the office three days a week, but we still will allow you to have two days at home. Some companies are being more rigid than others in terms of deciding which days people need to be in the office or not. A number are saying, for example, that Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday need to be mandatory days in the office.
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