Who Will Win the Great Return-to-the-Office Face-Off?
Instead of rushing to repopulate empty offices, companies should reflect on the pandemic’s lessons about how, when and where employees perform at their best.
More gloom than Zoom.
Photographer: Topical Press Agency/Hulton ArchiveThe class struggle takes different forms in different eras. In the Middle Ages, peasants revolted over their feudal dues (essentially their obligation to till their master’s soil for no pay). In the 18th century, weavers smashed mechanical looms. In the 19th and 20th centuries, workers struck over wages and conditions. Today, as the pandemic wanes, another flashpoint is emerging: whether knowledge workers should be herded back into the office or allowed to continue with their newfound freedoms.
Across the world bosses are issuing stentorian memos telling their charges that they are expected back at their desks — and workers are blanching at the thought of resuming the daily commute and working out their resistance strategies. Should they ignore the memos? Or drag their feet as much as possible — can’t March be pushed back to April and April to May? Or retire early? Or invent a new disability — fear of being loaded into cattle cars and forced to breathe other people’s disease-bearing breath?