Article Summary: Will workers continue to pay a price for flexibility? – Employees with non-traditional working arrangements have been punished in pay and promotions alike. As flexible work becomes the norm, can we end the penalty?

Recommendation

Writing for BBC, Katie Bishop offers a timely assessment of the future and sustainability of remote and hybrid work. She raises essential questions about contemporary work and considers various scenarios about the future of remote, hybrid and in-office workers. She asks if employers will remain open to virtual staff members and if corporations will give advancement preference to in-office employees or equally value remote workers? Bishop focuses more on analyzing the present situation than on making predictions about future workplaces or the relationships among traditional, remote and hybrid workers, but her caution to remote workers about their career path rings loud and clear.

Take-Aways

• Employees may find that flexible work means lower pay and slower promotion.
• The COVID pandemic revolutionized work at home and in hybrid environments.
• The impact of new working arrangements on income, promotion and job satisfaction is evolving and uncertain.

Summary

Employees may find that flexible work means lower pay and slower promotion.

Office-based work has been the norm since the birth of the modern corporation, but COVID lockdowns uprooted traditional work-life habits and venues. The impact of this change dramatically affects employees’ attitudes toward the discipline of work and their life choices. It may also dramatically affect their career trajectory.

Today, 75% of workers in the United Kingdom prioritize work-life balance more highly than they did before the pandemic. And, the number of remote jobs has grown by 20% since 2020. However, individual workers’ desire for flexible work arrangements may be a strong desire, but it is usually not a necessity. However, since the pandemic, the number of men who are seeking flexible work arrangements has increased by 30%, and is now on a par with women who prefer flexible schedules. This reflects a substantive change in male worker attitudes.

“Leaders and decision-makers who might previously have frowned on flexible working have had the chance to experience a different way of working themselves, and many have found they liked it.”

Getting to work early and socializing with your colleagues was the conventional path to a raise and a promotion in the past. That path gave an advantage to full-time employees over those, often women, who worked part-time or had to balance their career with family responsibilities. The pandemic upended that competition by sending everyone home.

Those who have returned to working in an office – instead of working from home or maintaining a hybrid schedule – may regain a significant career advantage. The edge employees gain from being physically in the office is called, “presenteeism.”

The COVID pandemic revolutionized work at home and in hybrid environments.

With the outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020, offices and schools adjusted to autonomous work or study at home and meetings on Zoom or other internet platforms. Employees liked many things about their new work from home routines, including being able to skip commuting.

“Both companies and staff alike have begun to understand that wanting to work flexibly is not necessarily negative or due to a lack of commitment.”

The big question for businesses and workers is whether the remote or hybrid work model is sustainable. As pandemic concerns recede, management pressure on employees to return to the traditional, office-based workplace is increasing.

The impact of new working arrangements on income, promotion and job satisfaction is evolving and uncertain.

The future of remote and hybrid work remains uncertain in the post-pandemic world. Important questions remain, such as whether competition between in-office employees and off-site workers will lead to longer working hours or downward pressure on compensation. No one knows yet whether in-office employees’ physical presence will continue to provide an advantage in winning recognition and promotion.However, remote workers who are career conscious should develop a personal relationship with the boss who determines their tasks, their titles and their salaries.

“Work hasn’t yet settled – it seems increasingly likely we’ll stay in flux for some time. This holding pattern gives companies time to continue evaluating their policies and practices…as workers are pushing them to do. ”

The technological ability to hold virtual meetings and work anywhere will have a lasting influence on employees’ attitudes and behavior, their work-life choices and their economic quality of life. That influence is also having an impact on corporate culture and the protocols and hierarchy of organizational management, but its long-term results remain to be seen. Only time and experience can determine how the changing work environment will shape wage disparity and career opportunities.

About the Author

Katie Bishop is a reporter for the British Broadcasting Company.