The boss came back, but the workers stayed at home

This is Chesley Maddox-Dorsey’s love for the CEO of the American Urban Broadcasting Network. For the past 9 months, she has worked in the company’s Manhattan office every day, and this was before she received the Covid-19 vaccination.

As the pandemic eases and New York City reopens, Maddox-Dorsey is considering how to bring back her employees, many of whom have become accustomed to working from home in the past year.

When asked if vaccinations alone are enough to persuade employees to return to office life, she said: “I think it will be more subtle and complicated than that.” Accompanied by other CEOs, she observed: “I think Recognizing that everyone has different desires for us to take office, which can be a bit daunting for all of us.”

In New York and other large cities, CEOs often return to their offices, and these offices are usually their places of power and the most precious environment. However, statistics show that their workers do not feel the same appeal-whether it is due to health problems, lack of childcare or the pain of commuting.

As of May 5, the “rework” barometer released by Kastle Systems, an office security system manufacturer, showed that the occupancy rate of the New York office was only 16.3%, an increase of 0.1% from the previous week, and only a few percentage points from 11. Month begins.

Ruth Colp-Haber, CEO of Wharton Property Advisors, said: “They are trying to figure out how to get them back into the market and who they can really push.”

David Rubenstein, CEO of commercial real estate company Rubenstein Partners, agreed. “Most CEOs are back, and they want their employees to come back.”

The competitive vision of the future workplace and the degree of flexibility workers should have in deciding where and how to work are threatening interests. Or, as Colp-Haber predicted in a recent note to clients, “Regarding the scope of mixed work, class wars may soon come to an office near you.”

This result is also crucial for cities like New York (whose economy is already built on dense office buildings) and for investors who own such buildings. If more people work from home, the demand for office space may decrease, and the value of these properties may be greatly reduced. As the company dumped too much excess space in the sublease market, rents have been under pressure.

This will not be the first time that the pandemic has tilted the balance of labor management. The Black Death swept through Europe in the 14th century, leaving the land without the hands of farmers, and landowners were forced to provide serfs with better wages and conditions.

In recent days, several companies have issued laws requiring employees to return to the office. JPMorgan Becoming the first large financial company to determine the transaction date, it told workers last month that it is expected to be as early as July. (This may not be surprising, because the bank is building a new 2.5 million square foot headquarters on Park Avenue). Since then, Blackstone Group and Goldman Sachs have followed suit.

In a recent letter to employees, Google The company’s CEO Sundar Pichai predicts that 60% of its employees will spend a few days in the office each week, with 20% permanently remote and 20% full-time.

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna told Yahoo Finance that he expects 80% of employees to adopt a hybrid model, and it will take a year or more to resolve this situation.

Privately, some executives said they tend to screw the screws, but worry that doing so will cause talented workers to scramble for competitors who are willing to provide greater flexibility.

Rubinstein said: “I want to say that the head of human resources and the CEOs of many companies are now discussing this issue.” Rubinstein believes that most workers will follow their bosses back to the office in September or earlier. . At that time, schools should reopen-at least in the US and the UK-and the vaccine will be provided to anyone who wants it.

He said: “I don’t believe that huge changes will happen.” “People want to be around when making decisions and when things happen.”

But Phil Kirschner, who led WeWork’s expansion into large companies, is now a workplace consultant, and he has seen more and more changes. He believes that the epidemic only confirms the shift to a more flexible work life, which has been going on for many years, but many CEOs refuse to acknowledge this trend.

“The desire to increase flexibility is not new. It is the managers who are holding them back. They want to see workers in front of them to ensure their productivity.” He said. “Now the bandage has been torn off.”

Even before the pandemic, power was changing, as companies competing for talented young workers participated in the “amenity” arms race in an attempt to make their offices more attractive to the new generation.In today’s world, fancy coffee, yoga studios, massages, grocery delivery and outdoor venues have become a world RigorousFlexibility (the ability to work remotely at least part of the time) is another incentive.

Kirschner explained: “The company must work harder than ever before to make them feel truly persuasive,” the young worker’s mentality described as: “’I used to have to work in the office, but now I don’t have to. So you I must be convinced why I want to do this.”

Nadir Settles has a similar view. Nadir Settles is responsible for overseeing Nuveen’s 6 million square feet of New York office space. His company is investing in hotel-like comfort for its offices. He said: “Whoever has the best planning environment will welcome employees back, and that will be the winner.”

Others are talking about on-site childcare and medical services. In New York, public transportation is imminent, and some people are discussing tax incentives for commuters.

Some jobs are more suitable for flexible work than others. For example, programmers may complete most of the tasks themselves, while marketing executives often interact with others.

Like many CEOs, Maddox-Dorsey said that after Covid, she was willing to endure greater flexibility, but worried that the coordination and collaboration required to produce a radio program and then sell it would be affected.

She said: “To get immediate feedback from team members, you need to be involved at the same time.” “So if someone decides when they want to enter at the beginning of the week, it’s like we’re working towards a personal timetable instead of As a common goal for companies to work together to achieve their goals.”

She also found that determining who needs to be in the office rather than who is in the office is not an easy task. Older employees with extensive experience and relationships in the company may not see the meaning of enduring long commutes to face-to-face time or performing tasks that they can easily accomplish at home. If they have young children, even less.

But their absence may deprive young employees of their interests, and they can benefit from the work around them. She said: “This is a personal choice, but as CEOs, what we have to do is manage countless personal choices, and sometimes they will be the opposite.”