Image Source: New York Post
By: Michael Argenta
October 3, 2021
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work became the new normal. Spending little to no time in company buildings and working from makeshift home offices was what employees became used to. Now, with rising vaccination rates and herd immunity, the question rings, ‘do we really need to work from an office?’
In recent news, accounting and consulting giant, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), announced that 40,000 client-facing employees may work from anywhere in the United States. Employees that opt-in will do most of their work from home but will still have the option to visit a client site or company office when necessary. However, while employees will have more geographical freedom, PwC states that “those moving to a lower-cost area could see their compensation affected.” With dozens of offices around the continental United States and the main headquarters in New York City, employees will have to decide if they will stay put or risk lesser salaries.
The driving force behind this move in evolving the workplace is to remain attractive to current and future employees. With more freedom and benefits, companies like PwC hope to attract the most talented workers. With recent announcements from Facebook, Zillow, Dropbox, and Google instituting policies for permanent work from home, all companies and industries will eventually face this dilemma.
While remote work takes over, not everyone is ready to leave traditional offices yet. In major cities, office usage has risen in the past weeks but remains below pre-pandemic levels. As more and more companies decide to allow permanent work from home or demand returning to the office, this will shape the future of the workplace. With the potential for less overhead expenses, will companies decide to make substantial changes? Will work ever be the same again? The future of businesses will be interesting to see.
Comentarios