Like many people, COVID-19 has changed when and how I work. The laptop comes home with me so I can work early (530-730 am weekdays), before going into the office for the morning, coming home for a lunch and a couple hours off, then back to the laptop for about an hour or two (2-4 pm).
There are some people who never stopped working from home since spring 2020 and will stay that way indefinitely if it works for the employer and employee.
From the employer’s perspective, it can be pretty sweet. Your staff member can be immediately available virtually anytime to deal with emergencies and the space they’d be taking in the office can be devoted to someone or something else. The savings for employers not having to rent as much office space in major cities is significant.
From the employee’s standpoint, there are tax deductions to be had from operating a home office, the freedom of flexible work from both time (finishing that project at night or over the weekend to spend weekday time with a sick parent or volunteer at a child’s school) and fashion (business up top, pajama pants and slippers below), the time and money saved from not having to commute, and avoiding all of the workplace drama, gossip and annoying co-workers and managers.
The blending of workplaces is not just happening in homes but in offices, too. The City of Calgary has unveiled a 10-year, $200-million plan to remake its downtown core, which is currently seeing office vacancy rates exceeding 30 per cent. Part of the plan is to work with building owners to convert empty floors of major office towers into residential condos. That could see staff living in their own apartment in the same building as their employer’s office, with both sides benefitting.
For the old-school micromanagers who don’t believe/trust their employees are actually working at home, there’s software for that, measuring logins, keystrokes and other laptop activity. That software was already in place in many offices even before COVID, so hardworking employees don’t care if the boss is “spying” on them through the laptop while they’re at home.
The potential for abuse and conflict is there on both sides but there’s a lot to like for employers and employees working together through customized home-office schedules.
Editor-in-chief Neil Godbout
