As companies call employees back to the office, can some workers hold onto working from home?
It's coming up on six years since the pandemic, and steadily, employers are calling their employees back to the office.
So, if you're settled into your work-from-home or hybrid lifestyle, is there anything you can do to hold onto it, or are you going to have to make your way back to your desk?
How can I keep my work-from-home job?
The most obvious answer is to look for another job, but there are other options you can try first, because employers and employees are coming at this from very different points of view.
In a memo sent to employees at PNC, CEO Bill Demcheck told his employees they would be moving back to the office in May, saying, "It's time to return to the way we work best, together and in person."
"The idea of being able to have everyone under the same roof or on the same floor could lead to more sparks, more innovation," said Zack Bombatch, an employment attorney and human resources expert.
Bombatch said that sentiment applies far beyond PNC; it's the driving force behind a lot of corporate drives back to five days in-house, but employees argue, and Bombatch agrees, that the evidence doesn't show a productivity erosion.
"We haven't really seen any of that decline solely because a team or organization is working in a hybrid or remote environment," he explained.
Why do employees like working from home?
Plus, workers have a lot of motivation to want to stay at home, starting with zero commute.
"Free time, and we've seen it as well with having to buy lunch or dinner," Bombatch said.
Bombatch said if you want to hold onto that work model, refer to the agreement that you were hired under.
"If it says your position is remote, and that's locked in and set in stone in that employment contract, that would also be another avenue to explore," he said.
Talking to your boss about working from home
He also added that in any discussion with your boss should emphasize that the core of your motivation is that staying hybrid or staying remote hasn't impacted your performance, so it won't present much risk to keep it that way.
The decision to return to the office might be a blanket across the company and unavoidable, but it doesn't hurt to have the conversation, especially if you have your arrangement in writing.
Ultimately, you may be faced with a tough decision to stay where you are or find a job where you can keep working from home.
So, if it comes down to that, make sure to speak with your boss and be prepared for what might come next.