Ok, so maybe Gen Z hates working from home. A national work-from-home survey by economists at three universities found that less than a quarter of 20-somethings who could do their jobs remotely wanted to do so full time. That’s compared with 29% of employees in their 30s, 33% in their 40s, and 41% in their 50s and early 60s. LinkedIn, which analyzed job applications on its platform, found that 20- to 24-year-olds were the least likely cohort to apply to remote roles. That pulled via Insider.
And apparently, Friday is dead. Just 30 percent of office workers swiped into work on Fridays in June, the least of any weekday, according to Kastle Systems, which provides building security services for 2,600 buildings nationwide. That’s compared to 41 percent on Mondays, the day with the second-lowest turnout, and 50 percent on Tuesdays when the biggest share of workers are in the office.
Figuring this out remains a priority — the C-suite is perceived as placing a high emphasis on enabling a hybrid workforce at 78% of organizations, according to research conducted for Cisco Meraki by IDG. And in 2021, Gartner reported a 44% rise in collaboration via apps since the COVID-19 pandemic, and workers said they spend just 33% of meeting time in person.
Which lead me to a great headline, TechRepublic. Stop the remote work navel-gazing. Two key points – Trust, until proven otherwise… and in-office isn’t a cure-all.
Business leaders have a pile of competing priorities here… and clearly, one size will not fit all. The need is to balance your younger employees’ wants with the demands of older ones and remember, the younger ones want not just interactions with each other but with mentors.
I think this is a solvable problem – the answer will be different for different industries, sizes, employee makeup, and the like. Complex problems are good things. There is opportunity there. It’s about work product, not about time and location.