Enough, Bosses Say: This Fall, It Really Is Time to Get Back to the Office*; After more than two years, corporate leaders say time is up on avoiding in-person work.

Wall Street Journal ^ | September 3, 2022 | Chip Cutter, Katherine Bindley

[DoodleBob]

Labor Day marks the line in the corporate sand.

Many company leaders say the end-of-summer holiday represents the best chance to finally lean on workers to return to the office this year.

After months of encouraging white-collar employees to return, or attempting to coax them back with free pizza, warm cookies and catered lunches, many executives now say they feel emboldened to take a tougher stance. No longer can workers merely come to the office if they so choose; this fall, executives say, attendance is expected and the office resisters will be put on notice.

...

...After Spotify offered most employees a choice on their work setup, about 60% chose to work from an office a majority of the time, while roughly 40% decided to remain largely at home.

“Psychology comes into play on this,” Ms. Berg said. “Nobody is telling me that I need to come in. It’s just my choice. And I think that is very important for you as a human being, too. I’m smart; I know how I want to do my job, when I want to do my job.”

She added: “If you recruit grown-ups and then you treat them as kids, it’s going to backfire.”

...

Some hiring managers say they have been able to attract talent by telling prospective candidates they can work from anywhere. But the number of remote jobs has started to fall, even as demand for remote roles remains high. Around 17% of paid job postings in the U.S. on the professional-networking site LinkedIn offered remote work in July of this year, down from a high of around 20% in March. In July, paid remote jobs attracted the majority of applications, at around 54%.

[ealgeone]

I can respect that. WFH isn't for everyone. I see that in my office. We have one dude on the team that wants to be in the office but has no office to go to.

What I do can be done almost anywhere with a good internet connection.

Do I miss seeing some folks in the office? Yes.

But I don't miss all the woke posters about DIE at the office.

I miss having lunch with my old boss.

I don't miss a two hour commute or having to get up real early to avoid the commute. It just makes no sense to drive to sit at a desk when I can get up and go sit in my office at home and do the same thing.

But not all roll that way. I do appreciate the flexibility to WFH or go into the office.

[rlmorel]

I concur. I would be happy with one day at home, though I have two assigned.

I get an extra two hours of sleep (getting out of bed at 0700 instead of 0500) which I need these days!