Work from home (WFH) isn’t right for every employee. Dental hygienists can’t clean teeth remotely. Construction, package deliveries, grocery re-stocking – all done in-person. If students are in the classroom, the teacher has to be there too.
And yet millions of other workers are questioning the need to return full-time to the workplace. Their work tasks adapted well to WFH during the pandemic. They remained highly productive, and after 15 months of WFH, their work/life values and expectations have been reset. CEOs want employees back in the office, but employees are resisting the call.
What experts are calling “the great resignation” is already materializing. Employers whose corporate culture doesn’t value employees are discovering that they cannot fill post-pandemic vacancies. Almost 50% of millennial and Gen Z workers – those with the greatest potential longevity for employers – say they would consider quitting if their employers aren’t flexible about remote work. Prudential’s Pulse of the American Worker Survey found that 87% of employees who have been working remotely want to continue working remotely at least one day per week, and preferably more.
Everyone seems to agree that the hybrid office is the best balance between full time remote work and full time office work. 83% of employees say that a hybrid model is optimal, giving them many of the benefits of remote work. In a hybrid office, CEOs who value mentoring and collaboration will get the face time they feel is vital.
But the transition to the hybrid workplace is challenging unless it is facilitated by the right technology. Smart lockers for day use, for example, can be assigned remotely; when contents are placed inside or removed, the usage is recorded for confirmation. Document digitization technology supports the hybrid office by converting paper documents to a digital format accessible from anywhere. Digitization eliminates the security risk of sensitive documents leaving the office for WFH. And digitization reduces the spatial requirements for document storage, saving real estate costs.
The hybrid workplace cuts more than mere real estate costs. It saves hiring costs. The Society for Human Resources Management reports an average cost of $4129 to fill a job vacancy. With so many workers saying they’d rather quit than be in the office full-time, the hybrid office – and the technology to support it – is the best way to retain your valuable employees.
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