KANSAS CITY, Mo. — At some point in the past three years, most people have worked from home. But as the pandemic ends and restrictions cease, employers are finding that it's harder to get their employees back in the office five days a week.
A hybrid work space seems to be the most popular among Americans who work. A Pew Research study found over 40% of people who can work from home, do. That number has increased over 30% since January 2022.
Belinda Waggoner works with over 40 different companies as an human resources representative with People People and has seen the trends with working from home. Her biggest advice to employers is being aware of the competition and how they're handling work from home.
"You know, if you’re in an industry that primarily offers work from home, the war for talent is real and individuals who want to work from home are going to go for those positions," Waggoner said. "They’re not going to go for the 100% in-office roles."
She's seen companies try to push a full, in-office schedule and see employees quit.
"The moment we made being present mandatory, even the folks that expressed that they were really good with being in the office 100% of the time, pushed back," Waggoner said. "It was almost as though the moment you required it, was the moment that even though that was something they said they wanted, suddenly it wasn’t what they wanted."
Why exactly that is, that's up to the human psyche. But a lot of it has to do with the fact that people have gotten used to the flexible routine of being able to drop the kids off at school and feed the dog. Waggoner said employers need to be tailoring to the needs of the employee.
"Frankly, they’re the one’s dictating the terms right now," she said. "And if we’re not smart enough to listen to it then we’re not gonna... hit the finish line as the winner."
Someone who knows the work from home system all to well is Alex Biel. His job is based in the Northeast part of the U.S. Biel has colleagues who work all over the world. He works from his home office every day.
"I don’t have to travel 30 minutes to go to work anymore," Biel said. "I save an hour in transit at least every single day, so I love that. It’s less money cause I’m not spending stuff, you know, getting my two pound salads at a lunchroom anymore."
But with every pro comes a con, and Biel recognizes he is missing out on the traditional work life culture.
"I miss joking around with my friends, I miss hearing about sports, I miss hearing about weddings, I miss hearing about all the fun stuff people are doing at night," he said. "I miss happy hours, I miss going to restaurants, team building activities."
So, will we ever see a world where everyone works out of the office every day? Waggoner said probably not.
"It’s continually changing, truthfully," said Waggoner. "You just never know what you’re going to get next."
