Organizational Behaviour - Daniel's Blog Entry #3 - Family Commitments and Remote Work

 

This third blog entry related to our Organizational Behaviour class is based on the following article, titled "Is the work-from-home debate already over?", written by Mr. Gene Marks, and published by The Guardian, on August 28, 2022 (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/aug/28/remote-work-home-office-debate-pandemic).

The article begins by stating that it is safe to consider that the worst part of the Covid 19 pandemic is finished, and with that in mind, he sets the stage for the “whether now the time is appropriate to go back to the office” debate.

Mr. Marks (article’s author) mentions about some AT&T workers making official claims to avoid them being forced to return to the company’s premises to fulfill their duties, whereas, on the other hand, big shots, such as JP Morgan Chase’s CEO criticizes remote work and complaining about certain platforms such as Zoom. Tesla Motors’ CEO, Elon Musk, is also quoted in the article, allegedly stating that he does not mind his employees working from home, as long as they have put in good forty (40) hours in the office first. Go figure.

The article also talks about certain economist from Stanford University claiming that working from home is beneficial for companies as its has proven to boost growth, mentioning that other supporting studies state that 77% of workers disclosed an increase on their productivity levels when they were allowed to perform their tasks from remote locations. Although, the author also let it be known that other reports claim that workers performing from home are 70% less productive than those are not performing from their households.

 The article goes on to discuss the aspect of mental health, stating that, while certain experts tend to consider that working remotely potentially decreases workers’ stress levels (considering that they do not have to deal with daily commute, or the fact that they get to sleep longer, etc.), hence making family obligations be more easily complied with, an study conducted by the American Psychiatric Association, on the other hand, states that most employees working remotely have felt the hit of feeling lonely, isolated, locked in monotonous life styles and even struggling to actually put an end to their work day.

Taking all of the above into consideration, the author suggests that the way to go is a hybrid type of scenario, where by part of the time employees are allowed to perform their tasks from home, while also being encouraged (and somehow forced to) go to the office another part of the time, as some individuals tend to perform better when having the chance to have a human interaction with their peers. Thus, hybrid should be the target to aim for.

As far as how this article relates to myself personally, having worked the past three years from home, I would say that I agree with both angles of the analysis. Indeed, I find it more enjoyable that I get to distribute my own time and that I do not have to deal with daily traffic and such. But, on the other hand, sometimes I do feel that loneliness sensation of not interacting face to face with other human beings for prolonged periods of time, in which cases I try to compensate it with outdoor activity, which is not work per se, but it still makes it up for the cumulative hours I get to be secluded with my online jobs responsibilities.