During the COVID, remote work was on the rise — companies were massively abandoning offices, analysts were publishing studies suggesting that everyone suddenly became more efficient. Now the trend has shifted to the opposite. Employees, including those in IT, are being brought back to the office. Why is this happening and is there any way to preserve remote work for oneself?
Why are companies publicly rolling back remote work?
For simplicity, let’s divide companies into two types:
- Non-corporations: Typically small and medium-sized businesses where common sense outweighs procedures.
- Corporations: Companies with a fairly high level of bureaucracy and associated corporate life. Here, procedures are more important, as they often represent the core of the corporation. Examples include Facebook, Microsoft, and others.
In the past year, it has mostly been corporations that have loudly announced the rolling back of remote work. This doesn’t mean that non-corporations are handling things differently. It’s just that we hear less about them.
In my view, this latest reversal is happening for several reasons.
The economy is declining and managers are “holding onto their positions”
In the past year, the economy has begun to collapse — things have not been going very well for many companies. Any manager at any level is pondering what to do. Bringing people back to the office is the simplest step. The concept works like an instinct: when hit, run; when given, take. Conceptualizations begin to form around it. It seems that remote work is to blame for everything. Simply bringing people back to the office will automatically make them more efficient — they will be nearby, and there will be the opportunity to control what’s happening.
However, the issue isn’t where to sit. The root cause, as it seems to me, managers’ skills are generally quite weak. For people to work effectively remotely, well-tuned processes are needed. In turn, processes don’t develop out of thin air. They require investment. You can’t just take office processes and rearrange them for remote work. They are different, and that’s important. It’s difficult to manage remote work in a seagull-management mode.
People en masse are still not ready for remote work.
Being productive is crucial when working remotely. However, not everyone manages to do so, despite experiencing lockdowns and a surge in remote culture. A simple example — if you need to look good for work, take care of your appearance and present yourself well. If there’s a team meeting at 12 in the morning, you should prepare yourself by that time. Still, practice shows that almost no one turns on their camera at that time — precisely because they’re conducting conversations from their beds.
I believe that none of this works until you reach a certain level of maturity. Each person reaches it at their own age. Some are mature enough at 30, some only at 50, and some may never reach maturity even until death. During the Great Patriotic War, partisan squads were commanded by 17–20-year-old children, and then they managed collective farms. In the modern world, there are people who are mature at the age of 10, but there are few of them — after all, there needs to be a strong enough reason to mature quickly.
It seems that this aspect is not taken into account by a huge number of companies. However, a significant segment of distance education has already broken many spears over it, struggling with the lack of discipline among learners.
Remote work doesn’t allow junior professionals to develop.
There’s a common belief that by hiring a junior — an entry-level specialist in any profession, whether it’s in IT, courier services, or accounting — you will inevitably bring them up to a mid-level. However, it simply doesn’t work that way. For real growth to happen, you need a mentor and structured learning processes.
In an office setting, things are quite straightforward. A novice immerses themselves in the company culture, hears things here and there, and somehow understands. Iin remote work, the junior is left one-on-one with the screen (sometimes also with their super busy lead). To turn a junior into at least a mid-level professional in a remote setting, someone needs to spend almost their entire workday on their training — sharing screens, demonstrating, explaining.
Remote work in IT has existed for over 20 years, but it became widespread only 3 years ago. During this time, hundreds and thousands of juniors have passed through companies. So, businesses have already realized that it doesn’t work — new employees can’t mass-transition into specialists because there’s still no methodology, no processes, no approach in place.
Remote work is hindered by family life.
Unfortunately, people cannot be instantly transformed. It’s hard to shake off the idea that if a person is at home, it doesn’t mean they’re not working.
I know many IT professionals who are also family people. These are mid-level and senior specialists. Who do you think takes care of the children when they’re sick? Of course, it’s the one who works remotely in the family.
Each individual specialist can successfully combat this factor. If the struggle drags on, it gradually undermines the person. As a result, many are already ready to escape from household routines. The constant presence of grandparents, mothers, mothers-in-law, and children at home becomes overwhelming — why not go to the office? The situation is exacerbated by the fact that we live in small spaces. Perhaps the situation would be completely different if everyone had a large house or apartment with a separate office.
This factor could easily be compensated for by local coworking spaces. Honestly, I still don’t understand why this business isn’t booming. Workspaces where you can, roughly speaking, walk in wearing socks and slippers should be everywhere (and I’m not talking about the kind of cubicles that are popping up now, but about normal comfortable workspaces). Companies could abandon large office spaces and simply pay for spots in such coworking spaces. Essentially, companies could lease out their own spaces for coworking for those who live nearby. Unfortunately, this isn’t happening because it requires a cultural shift — a paradigm shift.
Conclusion
In the end, in my opinion, the determining factor is still the crisis. If the economy were growing, everyone would continue to work remotely, as was the case during the COVID pandemic. No one would cling to their chairs or remember the other factors. However, as soon as things start going downhill, everyone reverts to basic truths. Now the trend of pulling everyone back into offices is prevailing. In my view, it will ultimately prevail because the economy will continue to decline. Only pioneer companies will remain — those who initially and purposefully work this way, those who have set up processes.
How to preserve remote work for yourself?
If you’re a junior professional, I strongly recommend seeking office-based work where you’ll have frequent interactions with colleagues. This can help you progress to a mid-level position more quickly.
If you’re a mid-level or senior professional in a corporation, fighting against the trend is usually futile. In rare cases, these companies may accommodate exceptionally talented employees. However, this is the exception rather than the rule. More likely, you’ll have to either comply or seek opportunities elsewhere with a more flexible approach.
Before making any fateful decisions, I would also recommend examining the rules. Perhaps the IT department allows unlimited remote work without penalties for violating the “N days in the office” rule (such examples exist in the market). Or maybe only individuals above a certain grade are required to come to the office, while others are only expected to perform tasks effectively.
If you find yourself with no choice but to go to the office, consider renting an apartment nearby. This will reduce the negative impact of commuting.
If you’re a skilled mid-level or senior professional in a non-corporate setting and don’t want to go to the office, truly justify this to your supervisor. Demonstrate that you’ll remain productive. If you’re not heard, consider changing jobs — go where remote work is understood. But make sure to establish your productivity: set up a proper workspace that motivates you to work.
Don’t try to sit on a kitchen stool for 8 hours. Even if it seems okay in the short term, it will eventually wear you down and affect your performance. The accumulation of these small stresses is a characteristic of “office” stress, which has been studied since the Soviet era. So, if you decide to stay remote, ensure a comfortable setup with adequate lighting and minimal distractions. Set strict rules for yourself, and immediately address any attempts to break them.
Article by Kirill Antonov, one of the founders of Maxilect.
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