I was very inspired by the article Professor Bassett sent over but also this topic is something I feel very passionate about to begin with. Its no secret that the pandemic pushed WFH for vast majority of jobs that traditionally were in person. Now, several years later, we are seeing more and more employer's requiring their employees to come back in office. EY in particular, has instituted a practice of monitoring how often an employee is swiping their card to get into the office.
At this point we all know the pros and cons of WFH. Pros include increased flexibility, lower costs, less traffic, more work life balance. Cons: Employers claim it hurts productivity and company morale (I haven't found a study to confirm this though). What I am most interested is how hard stances on RTO will impact employers. I am sure I am not alone in hearing about individuals looking for remote employment exclusively. In a study conducted by a Connecticut-based research and consulting firm, Garter, they found that the three groups most likely to leave a company due to strict RTO demands includes: high performing employees, millennials, and woman. Of that group, high performing employees were the least likely to stay because "they feel a strict policy translates to distrust to do their job." This can have a devastating impact on the productivity and diversity of a business.
Moreover, we are ushering in a new wave of employees- Gen Z, who have yet to experience a fully in-office job. In a UK study of Gen Z students, they found the 55% of them prefer remote/hybrid work and 38% cited being fully in office as the biggest barrier to finding their dream job.
From my experience, I very much prefer working remotely than coming into the office. Not only does it save time getting ready/driving, but it saves money (gas, buying food from out), and I am able to get work done much more efficiently (not to mention in PJ's).
Overall, I'm very interested in hearing your thoughts on the RTO mandates. Do you prefer to be remote, in office, or hybrid?
Hi Melina,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great blog topic, I think that the transition to WFH overall has been a good thing. Employees have more flexibility now and are able to be productive when they want to be and get more done in less time. The attempts by employers to push back on this in my opinion is more about control over employees that what is efficient, as workers RTO'd in a cubicle from 9-5 (or longer) oftentimes are not actually working at full capacity during that time.
That being said, depending on the area of law one chooses to practice in, it can be logistically difficult to work from home. I myself would prefer to practice law in person but that is just because of the area of law I will be entering. But, for those that are able I think WFH is the future of employment considering its convenience and evidence that workers still are productive doing it.
I worked in a Gov't office that was part time out of office, part time in office. While I will say, the experience of the job and the amount I learned was much greater in person, the drive and dressing up was a real kick in the butt every time I had to do it. It just was not as comfortable, nor feasible as working from home. I could be reading all the evidence and case notes as I was sitting pool-side, but when I was in office I had to drive through Tampa traffic and where dress pants and atleast a polo and often times a dress-shirt and suit as the in-office days were agency/department/briefings/legal issue spotting/policy changing.. meetings. Something that still could have been done over teams/zoom but was with everyone in office.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting topic, as I have worked in my firm for the past 2 years and we are currently preparing to go remote with one day a week in office. I think as a young attorney this could be a hinderance from getting everything you can out of learning from older attorneys at your firm. I find it much more difficult to have the small talk and pop into an office to ask a question remotely than I have in office. Not that this is the worst ever, a chat can suffice, but some people learn better by actually talking with someone rather than chatting via teams or email.
ReplyDeleteI prefer WFH because I feel that I am much more productive. When I worked in an office, I thought there was a lot of wasted time throughout the day. It confused me that so many companies were pushing RTO when they were saving on overhead by having employees work remotely. I also feel that WFH allows employees to have a much better work life balance which leads to increased satisfaction with their job and could ultimately increase overall productivity. I guess there are people that would take advantage of it and not want to work as hard if they are not in the office. It seems to me that those are the individuals companies are most concerned about.
ReplyDeleteI prefer WFH especailly with the traffic in the area. I could save two hours a day from not having to drive in to the office. Also, like you mentioned, you save money in other ways like in gas and eating out. I think I am spoiled now with the concept of WFH and wish that more legal jobs had this option. There are disadvantages though, like not talking face to face with people which is important while we are still learning. Also, I feel I am more professional in dress clothes rather than working in PJs, but that just may be me.
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