Pre-pandemic, 85% of the workforce spent an average of 50 hours a week in an office.
Then Covid-19 hit and suddenly that came to a screeching halt when over 60% of the office employees started working from home.
At the onset, working from home appeared to be a productive, economical solution to the office contagion. Employees found themselves working diligently around the clock while balancing kids, exercise, and walking the dog.
The workforce was energized and gung-ho.
Zoom meetings were new and fun. They became the virtual conference room.
Experts predicted the demise of office space and surveys of office users estimated that office footprints would shrink 40-70% in the coming years.
I was one of the converts. I was busy planning how to make Scheer Partners virtual, utilizing hordes of faceless independent contractors supported by overseas assistants, with almost no overhead – miraculous!
Perhaps. . . office space was an unnecessary expense?
Then, after about a month, feelings of complacency, detachment, and in some cases, depression kicked in with our team.
Work was still getting done, but the Scheer “MOJO” was disappearing.
An office isn’t just a place to work.
It’s a community where diverse personalities with varied skillsets build relationships, brainstorm ideas, motivate, solve problems and both drive and support each other.
No amount of video meetings can substitute for the physical human interaction of an office environment. The office culture, the “secret sauce” that has allowed us to excel for 30 years through numerous crises cannot be sustained when everyone is working from home.
Culture is the heartbeat of any company and it’s the number one reason for employee retention and engagement.
While there have been some compelling arguments for continuing remote work post-pandemic, the long-term negative effects of remote work are obvious, and we at Scheer Partners are eager to return to the office and re-energize.
Check out Episode 7 of my vlog: https://vimeo.com/432175215
Robert Scheer, Founder & President
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