Is the Value of Remote Work Real or Imaginary?
Several years after reopening and recovering from 2020’s global lockdown, businesses and executives grapple with the necessity and value of work-from-home programs. Many workers have experienced conflicting versions of return-to-office rules as company leaders pivot around the perceived value of remote work setups — sentiments that seem more dependent on emotional trends than actual data.
As an agency operating in a remote model, we’re curious to learn why other companies push so hard in the opposite direction.
In the latter half of 2024, a handful of prominent tech companies (including Amazon, Salesforce, and Dell) mandated that workers give up remote or hybrid work options and return to the office. Some workers have resisted the change, “coffee-badging” around the new rules. The prevailing C-suite response has been to implement further surveillance measures, increasing the unpopular presence of micromanagement.
On the flip side, Spotify’s viral response stands out among the frey. Katarina Berg, Spotify’s Chief HR Officer, reiterates how they have no reason to treat their staff “like children or end their popular work-from-home policy,” a widely celebrated stance across LinkedIn. “Work is not a place you come to,” she adds. ”It’s something you do.”
Remote work, once deemed an innovative saving grace, is now considered controversial in the eyes of those in power.
The WFH Debate: What About the Data?
How can significant companies in the same industry have such wildly different responses to the same issue? While companies on both sides of the debate claim to make decisions based on optimized productivity and culture improvements, more may be at play.
Some companies above have initiated layoffs to concentrate profits and meet growth goals. Could these calls to return to the office be a sorting hat-style vetting mechanism to push some employees into leaving voluntarily? Or perhaps the specter of layoffs is meant to be a reinforcing factor, keeping employees in line through fear. Either way, it’s not a move backed by data science.
Study after study has confirmed that remote and hybrid work benefits employees and employers. It’s been shown to increase performance, productivity, and retention. So why do some executives still not trust the data as truth? Perhaps they don’t want to, as it’s suddenly in vogue to ignore reason and research, regardless of the outcome.
According to Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford economist, “From an economic policymaking standpoint, hybrid work is one of the few instances where there aren’t major trade-offs with clear winners and losers. There are almost only winners.”
Trust and Teamwork Is Still a Winning Formula
From our inception, Haystack has fostered and supported the hybrid workspace model. Like Bloom, we believe hybrid offers the best of both worlds: the flexibility and comfort of work-from-home plus the structure and sociability of shared office space. Work-life balance has never been more tangible.
As a remote agency born from the 2008 financial crisis, CEO Townsend Belisle notes, "We were fully remote long before the pandemic and discovered the value of allowing talent to determine the environment where they produce their best work. But we also quickly learned the value of connecting in person with enough frequency. In those moments, other bonds are formed, and misconceptions are mitigated. It helped to embrace the unique benefits of each.”
Hybrid work plans can take many different forms. Think of it like a recipe that should be adjusted to taste. Workers’ time at home or the office can be universally applied or based on individual needs. It can be evenly split or weighted more heavily in one place than the other. It might also change throughout the year based on projects or workflow. While it’s up to each business to decide for themselves, the key to success is a blend of both options. All data and societal pressure aside, if you can’t trust your people to work from home, they may not be the right people.
Haystack’s business model is built around the expertise of our people, and as such, we treat our talent with the respect and trust they deserve.
Team Lead Travis Hellstrom says, “Working remotely has helped me show up as the kind of husband, father, and friend I want to be. My life would be so different without it. Since my son was born five years ago, I've been able to be there for him and my wife from his first steps. I wouldn't trade that time for anything, and I also don't take it for granted. Whether it's taking our dog for a walk, bringing my son to school without rushing, or just being in my home office and listening to my family laugh while I'm working, I feel grateful for remote work every day.”
Perhaps the best news of the day is this: if you’re a company looking to bring a workforce back in-office, you have nothing to lose — and potentially everything to gain — by trying a hybrid approach before location-locking your team. Bring employees back part-time and double down on engagement during remote periods. This will soften the transition and show employees you’re as invested in their well-being as the company's success.
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