It seems that working from home is on its way back

Amazon, Zoom, Apple and X: all large American companies require their employees to return to the office more often. In Belgium, too, the pendulum is slowly swinging the other way. If you schedule a workday at home right before you leave, you’ll get the comment: “That’s for packing bags, right?” ”

“We have had to work from home during Corona,” says a manager at a service company in an hour. “But since there are not enough staff, anyone who has contracted coronavirus must still return to the office. Right now, we are allowed to work remotely for a maximum of two days a week. The annoying thing is that there is little trust from the employer. For example, we get feedback when we plan our working days at home before and right after vacation: “That sure is packing the bags.” Or if you don’t answer the phone right away when you’re on the toilet. I wouldn’t say I don’t run the washing machine occasionally while I’m at work. from home, but you don’t waste time on that.”

This certificate is anonymous for fear of consequences in the workplace. This also applies to an executive within a government company where employees suddenly had to come to the office two days a week, where they had to work from home five days a week earlier. Or for an employee of a multinational industrial company, where from January next year two days of home work for executives will be reduced to one day.

Finishing edges

“We changed our policy six months ago: remote work is no longer a birthright.” Rob Swinen (62) is the CEO of EcoWater Europe, a water treatment system company with 250 employees. He also amended the work-from-home policy. Since the Corona crisis, we have been working with a system in which people, depending on their position, are entitled to one or two days off a week. But we saw that some abused them: their productivity was much lower. That is why we amended the collective labor agreement at the beginning of this year. There are some employees who now have to return to the office full time.”

But the majority of employees use this freedom responsibly. “If you treat people maturely, they will behave maturely,” says Thomas De Spiegelaere, spokesman for the Federal Public Service for Mobility and Transport and a consultant on strategic workplace development. “Of course you have to be able to prevent abuse. But you definitely shouldn’t punish the 80 to 85 percent of people who do a good job. There will always be someone who cuts corners. Just like some people are in the office at eight, but then they play a game.” Solitaire for an hour.

Belgium is one of the best in the class when it comes to working from home. Last year, 32 percent of Belgians reported working remotely at least one day a week, and in 2018 that was just 17 percent. However, we see that from 2020 to 2022 it decreased by five percentage points. Is working from home way back? “It is dangerous to see this as a trend,” says de Spiegeler. “During Corona it was highly recommended and many companies had to make the switch. But then a certain threshold was set which logically was set. We will have to wait and see how this number evolves in the coming years. I don’t feel like companies want to take big steps back. For most People, working from home for two to three days is now the norm.”

different company culture

However, we’re seeing a counter-movement in the US, where technology companies in particular are demanding that their employees be present more often in the workplace. Elon Musk, owner of Tesla and X, among others, is a staunch opponent of telework. And even Zoom, a developer of video conferencing software, asking its employees to come back to the office is cool.

Although Swenen does not believe such a counter-movement is imminent among us. He can make the comparison perfectly: He was in the US last week for a meeting with the CEOs of EcoWater US. EcoWater is owned by American billionaire Warren Buffett. “In the US, you often see occupant behaviour: they go from one end to the other. For example, the CEO of Airbnb talked a few years ago about a digital nomad, an employee who would live and work in a different part of the world every six months. In Europe we haven’t been exposed To a heavy blow at that time. So the counter-move here will not be strong either: we just have to find a good balance.

De Spiegelaere also points out that there is a different corporate culture in the United States. “Big tech companies are certainly not committed to employee autonomy. Take the famous Google Workplace, for example: it was created to keep employees on campus as much as possible. And it’s not inconsequential: brainstorming and collaboration are most important in creative companies.”

There is currently one A war for talentAlso in Belgium: companies have to fight to hire good employees. De Spiegelaere: “If they can choose between a company that has one or three days of home work and a similar salary package, the choice will be made quickly.”

Swinnen himself uses working from home. “Now I do it one or two days a week. And I’m very honest about it, too. If I go for a walk with the dog in the afternoon, I put it into my schedule and work a little longer in the evening. That shouldn’t be a problem for our staff either.” We look at the output and don’t check if she’s in front of the computer at all times of the day.”