People seem to be spending quite a bit of time talking about whether they're better off now than they were in 2020. While that question may get asked a lot because of the upcoming election, I wanted to look at a different angle. Specifically, I posit we are in a better place now than we were in 2020 when it comes to work-life balance. I believe that's in part due to COVID forcing all companies to open up to working from home on a regular basis.
As the leader of Riveron's New York office, I'm probably the poster child for being in the office. I'm in the office four days a week. I developed a strong allergy to working from the office on Fridays, which arose in early 2020, and for the sake of my health, I continue to work from home on Fridays. Regardless of my role... and my health :) ...what makes the most sense for me might not make the most sense for everyone.
In fact, I find more and more of my clients have evolved their return-to-office strategies in a similar way to Starbucks. Companies are pressing more and more of their employees to work from the office, on average three days per week, with a few requiring four and even five days (e.g., financial services). The reasons stated are ones I tend to agree with: apprenticeship, productivity, and growth.
The move away from remote work to on-site continues to evolve, but I'm fairly certain that we won't be going back to the way it was in 2020, where working from home one or (gasp) two days a week was frowned upon with disapproval.
Regardless of how many days a week people are in the office or working from home, I think it's safe to say that many people's work-life balance is much better now than it was on January 1, 2020. And, for growth's sake, I think it's going to take a bit more than just getting people to commute into the office five days a week to help with that challenge.
For what it's worth, I don't even drink at Starbucks, and I prefer tea (Earl Grey) with milk.
Starbucks is stepping up efforts to enforce its return-to-office mandate with a warning: Comply with the policy or risk termination.
The company will be instituting an "accountability process" in January to ensure corporate employees comply with requirements to work in the office three days a week, according to an internal message obtained by The Wall Street Journal. The message notes employees may face termination if they do not meet in-office requirements.
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