If you havenât already noticed, productivity does not in fact decline when we work in the comfort of our homes yet major employers across the world are still not convinced nor buy into the WFH craze.
Since this year, Iâve been perplexed as to why companies are deliberately forcing employees back into the office while the delta variant is surging. Since corporations are mainly incentivized to drive profit for their shareholders, is getting people back into the office a hidden easy way to boost market share?
It seems so.
According to various news publications from The NY Times to WSJ, more than ever, home-bound employees are tackling on several side-hustles on top of their main job which may run serious employment risks if they arenât disclosed. The lack of visibility into employeesâ additional income streams may be frightening employers on top of stringent security protocols, technology and adequate infrastructure needed to manipulate the office setup at home that companies donât want to bother with.
We canât put the genie back in the bottle and if given the option, most employers would prefer the hybrid style but some well-known employers across the nation are insisting employees stay and never leave the office again.
Is it solely on boosting market share, rankings or attention or do they really need them back for moral support?
The Case of the Commute
The average commute time for an American is 90 min minutes one-way. As an NYU student this is roughly the same as my commute time from Westchester to Washington Square Park on a good day. Although most would assume taking 3 hours back and forth from a destination is a pure waste of time, it certainly isnât for me. As a personal finance frugal minimalist guru, I know how to make the best out of every situation and in fact I find Iâm most productive on a long train ride home and when Iâm staring at the ceiling in the subway car.
Besides the fact that being in person offers a plethora of irreplaceable benefits the office/kitchen/lounge/bedroom cannot provide, what are the real motives for companies to waste employees time again?
Everything in life to finance is relative. What you would call a waste of time I call a moment of peace and when it comes to commutes, I doubt employers are purposely requiring in-person setups to annoy us and waste our time, rather to spur a new creative community and outlet.
You would think that working from home is the best way to maximize productivity, efficiency and international business deals yet when it comes to the research, nothing beats being dedicated to work at work.
When observing the benefits of being on-site, I believe our productivity will skyrocket again since we wonât be drained by remote meetings, camera backgrounds and multitasking at home. Cutting down the lag on responding, endless confusion in long worded emails, and all the barriers to being separated, having immediate reliance on team mates spurs innovation, creativity, optimism, excitement and pure purpose more than walking 2 feet to the desk every morning.
After all, we need to sacrifice comfort for the uncomfortable to see the true benefits come alive yet a lot of them will be gone, most notably saved travel time and extra sleep.
Remote work seems to be favored by those who donât have kids to take care of, have their own schedules and enjoy multitasking so what can corporations do about that? Can they allow us to be our most productive selves in an environment that works best for us?
Do they intend on now paying for our commutes as we realize how much easier life can be without them?
In March 2020, we pictured the commute to be obsolete but how far will it go? Is it mandatory to provide a sense of urgency, purpose and direction towards work solely in a work environment?
The Case of Time
Due to the labor shortage since the onset of the recovery in early 2021, many employees are either quitting to now find jobs with better pay, work for themselves or those with more flexible opportunities that most notably involve, WFH.
I believe employers should pay for anâextraâ commute if it goes beyond a certain limit.
Is that crazy to ask?
If an employer isnât ready to offer assistance, shouldnât there be a higher compensation package or some incentive to get their employees to stay at the company? Sure everyone is unfortunately replaceable yet when it comes to commuting, to make the company more profitable and of course employees satisfied, they should be treated well.
Happier family = happier results.
After all, time is money and with the average yearly cost of commuting above $2k, this is a significant chunk of oneâs budget they must allocate for. Personally, my travel expenses to and from work to school on the subway and train total around $7k per year. That is $14k right off the bat that I invested into the market in 2020, half of 2021 and saw double during this 11 year bull market rally. Itâs grown much faster than catching the train on time.
On the other hand companies have saved an average of $128 billion by having their employees commute! This is a staggering amount considering one would never think it would COST them money to attract talent to physically be in the office. Remote work by first glance seems cheaper but once you factor in the maintenance, monitoring, security enhancements, protocols, IT security check-ups, extra international customer service staff, less transparency, reliance and lag, it adds up fast for businesses. Their motives seem to be them first. They are always on a cash crunch.
I guess you could say being back in person is strong for business and beneficial for our mental state more than anything. We hope to believe the latter. With 64 million office workers in the U.S. spending on average $2k per year, that surmounts to roughly $128 billion in yearly commuting costs that employers can save and wasted $2k+ to stash into crypto for the employee!
Yet at the end of the day, if you have to commute, might as well enjoy it. Even that luxurious house with 3 pools you bought at the bottom of the market last year will get old. We are social creatures and wasting time is okay and in fact necessary to live. We canât be stuck at home all day. Live to work not work to live.
Although this message wonât spread far, I hope all companies want the best for their employees and can learn a thing or two from a financial standpoint of working from home.
If you canât trust your employees from home, you shouldnât trust them in the office.