KANSAS CITY, Mo. — While government workers brace for layoffs, others are preparing to go back into the office.
The Trump administration announced a return-to-office mandate in late January.
A recent study shows some employees are willing to take a pay cut to keep working from home.
“Being able to venture off to different places and have a different atmosphere while still getting work done has been very helpful,” said hybrid worker Aliyah McBride.
The study, led by researchers at Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Illinois, said 40% of workers said they would take a 5% pay cut in order to remain remote. Nine percent of workers said they would take a 20% cut.
Missourians who weighed in on the subject said they could handle a nominal pay cut, but 20% is out of the question. Some even voiced their love of office work.
“I think I might be on the opposite end of that. I don’t know that I like it anymore,” said remote worker Brian Zehnle.
One remote worker who goes into the office when needed proposed a question likely not on the survey.
Megan Fluter says if she was asked to go back into the office full-time, she would ask for a raise to compensate for a more rigid work schedule.
When posed with the task of considering a pay cut for flexible work hours, Fluter said she would rather be in the office than sacrifice a percentage of her pay.
“You can’t then do the things outside of work that you enjoy, if you don’t have the financial means to do that either,” she said. “I’d rather go to Mexico than do my laundry in the middle of the day, so if it came down to that, I think I’d choose Mexico every time.”
The study surveyed more than 2,000 workers.
—