Why Do Companies Want Their Employees to Return to Office?

The pandemic saw a significant shift in how offices operate. Screen replaced human interaction, and employees were restricted to their home offices. However, now with the successful vaccination of the majority of the population, more companies are ready to return to the office.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk is all ready to bring his employees back to the office– at least 40 hours a week. And many large companies like JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Google, and more, have already implemented return to office plans.

In fact, a May survey revealed that 76% of top executives see in-person work as the key to a productive workplace. So, ready or not – after two years of flexibility and convenience of working from home, companies are excited for employees to return to office.

Clearly, companies worldwide want to return to normal in-office operations and functions. But why? 

Here are a few reasons why companies are eager to get their employees to return to office.

1. Receding Pandemic

Companies worldwide adopted remote working policies as a measure against the raging pandemic. However, rapid vaccination amidst the declining COVID-19 cases has brought employers new hope. Companies are more than excited to open their doors for employees’ return to office. 

In fact, they are encouraging this return to office by supporting vaccination drives, enforcing in-office health protocols, and evaluating workplace occupancy to ensure a safe working environment. 

2. Loss of Company Culture

As Zoom calls and home offices have taken over team meetings and dedicated workspaces, respectively, companies are concerned about losing their company culture. After all, till before the pandemic, offices played a key role in collaboration, paving the way for innovation, brainstorming, and ensuring employee well-being. 

Limited physical space makes it difficult for businesses to introduce practices that create a strong office culture. That is why most companies favor employees’ return to office and want to offer them an interactive work environment. Working from the office promotes transparency and the spontaneity of face-to-face communication. So, employees can easily exchange ideas in a shared space.

This is why companies want their employees to return to office in a positive work setting once again.

3. Employee Burnout

While work from home has its fair share of perks like work flexibility and productivity, employee burnout is getting all too real. According to a report by Bloomberg, remote work has added 3 hours to an employee’s workday, mainly because of the frequent distractions at home. There are no fixed work hours. And the lack of social support and interaction adds to their fatigue.

As a result, most companies are worried about employee burnout. And return to office seems to be the only solution. When they return to office spaces, employees have a different place to work, and they get to be productive for specific hours during the day. 

After their shift, they can easily unplug from their jobs and spend the rest of the day stress-free. Besides, even the extra time spent on the commute offers a good opportunity to reflect and plan the day ahead.

4. Wastage of Office Real Estate

While the pandemic had employees working from home, companies were still spending on office spaces – from desks and furniture to equipment and utility bills. And the wastage of this valuable space was a major concern. Naturally, with a decline in COVID-19 cases, companies want employees to return to office and reoccupy the physical spaces.

In fact, tech giants like Apple and Google are encouraging employees to return to office by investing in larger office spaces. While Google has recently invested $1 billion on a new office building in London, Apple is excited to have employees back at their Cupertino offices three times a week. 

No doubt, a physical workspace ensures employees are more productive and offers equal working conditions to everyone. Thus, it is proving to be a big incentive in bringing employees back to the office.

In Conclusion

With the pandemic slowly receding, companies are highly optimistic about employees’ return to office. However, for most companies, it is a slow process. Many are planning a return to office on a rotational basis or taking the hybrid model to maintain work flexibility. 

Nonetheless, this return to work will still be a fresh experience. And companies need tools that will make this transition easy and boost productivity. Get ready for your company’s return to office with the WorkInSync return to office solution. From hot desking to employee scheduling, the software allows you to manage your workplace seamlessly.

The best part? You need not worry about product integrations since WorkInSync’s solutions integrate seamlessly with existing systems.

Opt for a demo to learn more about the product.