In-Office vs. Remote/Hybrid: Trends & Tradeoffs

The great experiment of work from home, hybrid, or fully in-office is still going on. Most companies are doing some kind of remote or hybrid schedule, while some others (e.g., Tesla, C3 AI and JP Morgan) want all employees back in office full-time. (See this article “Think Working From Home Won’t Hurt Your Career? Don’t Be So Sure” by WSJ or this one by NYT “A Full Return to the Office?”) Firms too vary between full remote (e.g., Cooley and Quinn Emanuel), hybrid (seemingly the majority), and in-person. (See this article by The Recorder on remote roles vanishing.) What are current trends and likely outcomes?

1. Employers requiring in-office can face employee resistance/turnover. The Recorder quotes a Northern California legal recruiter: “Associates to a degree can still go where they want. If they were forced to appear at the office in the flesh, they’d probably vote with their feet.” (See also this BBC story on workers quitting over return-to-office policies).
2. Employers are becoming less flexible and less willing to bestow remote status. The Recorder reports “positions for junior lawyers and staff are generally seeing less flexibility due to ‘critical on-site work’ such as training, mentoring and client work.” Some firms are “giving up the remote option for new hires.”
3. Management will likely favor on-site employees over remote/flexible employees. Why? WSJ points to proximity bias and observes that even “companies that have embraced remote work” give “special status” to office-goers, e.g., more pay for workers at HQ. Another reason management may prefer onsite employees is it’s easier to communicate with them. The Recorder reports, “Lawyers are struggling to convey feedback upwards and downwards, a problem that is further exacerbated by Zoom fatigue and a shift to email as the primary method of communication.” And see here for a long list of career advantages working in-office.
4. Remote/flexible employees will likely get paid less (e.g., at Google, Facebook, Twitter for those outside of HQ) and are more vulnerable to management change or layoffs. Per WSJ: “Remote workers aren’t members of a legally protected class” and “[t]hose who feel that infrequent office visits unfairly cost them promotions could have little recourse.”

The WSJ makes the good point that “if you know that your employer values some face time, then you as an individual trying to improve your working situation and endear yourself to your boss may want to put some of that face time in.” See my prior post for more tips for remote workers not to be left behind.