Bringing Employees Back to the Office – Is It That Simple?

We’re not living in a completely post-covid world as of spring 2022, but it is a safer, more contained environment than it has been over the past 2+ years. With Covid-19 precautions easing and restrictions lifting, many businesses have returned to office operations on a part-time, if not a full-time basis. 

Recently, Entrerepuner posted an article supporting the idea to bring employees back to work in-office, full-time, dubbing the movement back to the office “The Great Return.” The piece weighs some of the pros and cons of bringing employees back to the office versus sticking with the remote-work models most businesses had to adopt during the pandemic. 

There are three reasons the article author, Candice Georgiadis, lists to help convince businesses that moving towards a fully-staffed office return is the way to go:

  • Culture and values

      • Georgiadis argues that new hires suffer greatly from not being able to learn by seeing and interacting with co-workers. 
  • Collaboration and productivity

      • Some setbacks are not visible when remote, and team workers may be struggling while siloed and assistance cannot step in.
  • Purpose and satisfaction

      • A collaborative effort of working towards the same goal provides a sense of belonging that can be lacking when employees are at home. 

Georgiadis’ points are valid, and we don’t think anyone would argue that there is value to every concern she highlights. However, as the saying goes, “you can’t put the genie back in the box.” Companies aiming to bring in talent across all age demographics will need to make remote work and lifestyle concessions to attract and retain talent – at least for the foreseeable future.

In a “return to the workplace” study produced by Envoy, 66% of all workers surveyed said they had safety and health concerns regarding returning to the office, and nearly half of survey respondents said they would consider looking for another job if they are not offered remote/hybrid work options. 

The bottom line is that while there are great benefits to having a workforce in the office, forcing employees back to the office on a full-time basis will not help businesses retain or attract top-tier talent. 

Jobiak has helped businesses across all industries optimize their online job posts to rank better on Google and present pertinent information to job seekers in the most convenient means possible. It’s safe to assume that many job seekers will pass right over job posts that do not include remote flexibility listed right in the description. Job data will need to be optimized to present the most pressing details to garner attention from job seekers.

Please click the link to learn more about how Jobiak’s recruitment technology works to optimize job posts for better visibility. 

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