Promises of Remote Work are Being Broken… and It’s a Bad Idea

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a few years since circumstances… “encouraged”... so many businesses to suddenly adopt work from home policies. As these circumstances have gradually normalized, many businesses have elected to keep these policies in place, either maintaining fully remote operations or shifting to hybrid operations.

However, some notable businesses have taken efforts to roll back remote work capabilities, if not discontinuing them entirely.

Let’s discuss why this isn’t a good idea, particularly for the small or medium-sized businesses around Calgary.  

Various Corporate Offices Have Turned an About-Face on Remote Operations

Make no mistake: despite a less-than-ideal reason for remote work to become the only feasible option for knowledge-based, traditionally office-centric roles to continue their operations, many workers immediately found themselves enjoying (or at least, making the most of) their new working environments. The elimination of the commute, having more time to spend at home with the family, and having to deal with fewer office politics all made remote work a really beneficial situation for many. People adopted their new best friends on four legs. Some, in the interest of their personal finances, moved—all the while still working for the same company.

As you might imagine, these people would be less than enthused to hear that they were expected to suddenly return to in-office operations.

Companies that made moves to end their corporate remote work in 2023 included the likes of Activision Blizzard, Amazon, Dell, Disney, General Motors, Google, IBM, Meta, Starbucks, Ubisoft, United Parcel Service, and Walmart. Back in 2022, Apple, Capital One, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Salesforce, Tesla, Twitter, and Uber all made similar changes that ultimately eliminated or greatly reduced the capacity their team members had to work from home.

While some—certainly not all—of these businesses have made some attempts to encourage employees to return to the office, these moves have largely been met with derision from the workers they impact.

The Back-and-Forth of Remote Work Has been Considerable

A few short years ago, remote work was a relatively rare phenomenon, until a global health crisis made it a necessity in order for many businesses to continue operating safely. This ultimately revealed that many of the concerns surrounding remote work were largely unfounded, albeit with some growing pains.

Workers quickly took to this change, with workplace flexibility swiftly becoming one of the primary features that people seek when considering employment. However, things are changing back to how they were for many businesses, beyond just those listed above.

This is despite the fact that many remote workers very much like remote work, and now openly prioritize it in their lives.

The Big Takeaway: Remote Work Offers More Benefits than Forcing In-House Operations Ever Could

Ultimately, most of the changes that the sudden onset of remote work has brought to the working class have been directly beneficial, so trying to take them away isn’t likely to end well for many businesses—especially if other businesses are actively supporting the utilization of remote and hybridized operations.

We can help you be one of the latter businesses, the ones that are fully taking advantage of the potential that remote work introduces. Give us a call at (403) 210-2927 to learn more about the solutions that we can set you up with.