08 Mar RTO so you don’t work 24/7
Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay
“While recent workplace developments have mostly favored flexibility and prioritizing employee well-being, a tight labor market and wide adoption of remote work technology have forced some to a work week that has no end.
On average, workers put in more hours on Saturdays and Sundays last year than in 2021, according to a report by ActivTrak, a workplace software company. Only 5% of all people surveyed worked through the weekend in 2022. Their time on the job increased by 18 minutes to an average of 6.6 hours.
But for some other industries, the number of weekend hours rose sharply. In the tech industry, the number of weekend hours soared 31% to 11.5 hours on average, while media workers put in 53% more time on the weekends, for an average of 10.7 hours.” –https://fortune.com/2023/03/04/weekend-work-hours-remote-tech-layoffs-tech-media-employees/
So . . . RTO or freeze. RTO so you have free coffee and a heated office. Now: RTO so you don’t have to work yourself half to death over the weekend. See, if you c’mon back and put in your 40 hours in the office, we won’t harass you over the weekend. That’s a reward of compliance.
“The report identifies two reasons for the weekend toil. First, mass layoffs, especially in tech, made it necessary for employees to pile on a greater workload to make up for the shortfall in headcount. Second, employees trying to escape virtual calls and meetings in the hybrid workplace are increasingly finding weekends to be the only time they can work free of distractions.” -Fortune, Ibid.
Remember when economists and so-called experts told you that no mass layoffs were coming? You’ll know the tree by the fruit it bears. I see some of the same people quoted over and over again in mass media and even though they’re rarely – if ever – right, they get the air time. That tells me a lot about the state of корпоративная пропаганда Америки we have in the US.
There’s nothing surprising about the people left behind after a layoff being pummeled with extra work. And because a lot of companies waste time with incessant meetings, needless video calls, and bureaucratic reports, the actual work gets pushed to nights and weekends. I also find it interesting that this article specifically calls out the darling hybrid work: “employees trying to escape virtual calls and meetings in the hybrid workplace are increasingly finding weekends to be the only time they can work free of distractions.” If hybrid wasn’t the hell of half measures and we’re all supposed to be geeked up on it, then why are people working on the weekend to avoid corporate BS?
Remember when we were told that hybrid workers were the best because they were loyal and productive? I remember.
“As the remote work debate rages on, new data shows it could be worth it for employers to meet workers in the middle. About 70% of hybrid workers have a strong sense of company loyalty, according to a new Prudential survey. Just 64% of in-person employees and 59% of remote workers feel similarly. The reasoning? Hybrid workers get the best of both worlds: the flexibility to work from home along with the social interaction of the office. They’re also happier with their compensation and benefits.” –https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/hybrid-workers-are-loyal-workers-6103618/
🤣 I laughed about it then like I laugh about it now.
So we’ve transitioned from “Is hybrid a ‘hell of half measures’?” which LI published 5 months ago to now being told that hybrid workers are the most loyal. 😆 Wow. What spin!
–https://causeyconsultingllc.com/2022/12/13/%f0%9f%98%86-what-spin/
“The option to work remotely has benefited workers by saving them hours of weekly commuting and boosting productivity. But hybrid work hasn’t been unanimously successful—some women have struggled to draw boundaries when on hybrid schedules and workers may miss out on factors that they desire in their professional lives such as autonomy and connectivity. . . .
Even with greater flexibility in work style, employee well-being remains at risk. Burnout among American workers continued at an alarming rate of 89% in 2022. And while companies are being more proactive in helping their employees get the support they need, even high-level executives are grappling with similar struggles.” -Fortune, Ibid.
So . . . I don’t think it’s difficult to imagine a scenario like this:
C’mon back to the office. We’ll have a great r e s e t in the work world, too. If you come back and sit in the cube farm in our corporate real estate, we won’t harass you on the weekends. We won’t ask for a Zoom meeting on a Saturday afternoon or Slack message you on Sunday night. We’ll focus on getting the meetings in and getting the work done Monday through Friday and your reward for commuting and returning in-person is that you can have your weekend back. If you wanna stay home, I mean, that’s fine and all, but we’ll pay you less and we’ll pester the sh*t outta you on the weekends. So what’ll it be?
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