Full-Time Remote Work Forever? Uh…Not So Much.

            If you have visions of working remotely for the rest of your career, get over it. With very few exceptions, it’s not going to happen – not full time, anyway.

           Will the workplace continue changing? Of course – and for the better. But you’re unlikely to continue shuffling around the house in your slippers, not caring what you’re wearing below the Zoom screen, sleeping late during what used to be commuting time, being near the refrigerator and your pets, or having cable news on all day – not full time, anyway.

           With Big Tech leading the way, we’re headed back to the office. In cities all over the country, office real estate is being scooped up, renovated, expanded, and newly built – to the tune of tens of millions of square feet and tens of billions of dollars. In the last three quarters of 2021, the tech industry leased 76 percent more space than it did in 2020, according to global real estate leader CBRE. I’ll not spout more data; the numbers are everywhere, and that’s not my job, besides. I will, however, do what you’d expect: connect the dots and offer the best advice I can.

           So, what’s the issue? Remember, technology saved us when we needed it most. Imagine if the pandemic hit pre-Internet. Scary! But there is much that technology can’t do, most notably, build camaraderie, solidify teamwork, foster empathy, and – through these patently human motifs – improve overall and individual performance. It’s why employers put such great emphasis on corporate culture.

           Culture is the collective manner in which an organization conducts itself, the manifestation of the leader’s vision and the company’s mission and core values. It dictates organizational design, sets behavior standards, guides decision making, creates dynamic interpersonal connection, and attracts talent. Ultimately, it’s as much a determinant of success as is expertise.

           That doesn’t happen virtually. Every CEO and HR leader knows it and is not about to abandon the long-range efforts over the decades that have produced the corporate cultures they brag about. In everything from core values to the company softball team, personal touch matters.

           From the works of Abraham Maslow, we learn that – after basic physiological and security needs – the most fundamental human need – and motivator – is belongingness. It’s why our hominid

ancestors lived in clans, and it’s why we live in communities, join congregations, take up causes, wear sports team paraphernalia, and so on.

           That doesn’t happen virtually. We evolve communally, not apart.

           Does this mean everyone will be schlepping back to the office five days a week? No. In fact, the crises we faced over the last two years have accelerated the process of re-evaluating the way we work. Two phenomena, already under way around the world, will bring changes so fundamental that they’ll rival those of industrialization, unionization, and globalization. They’re the hybrid workplace and the four-day week. I’ve written about these in the recent past and will continue to do so, as (1) they are gigantic shifts, and (2) they’re more complex that they first appear.

           Nonetheless, as I reported elsewhere in December 2020, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated, “There’s no replacement for face-to-face collaboration.” If anyone is capable of remote work, it’s Apple and other tech firms, yet they’re all buying and leasing office space like it’s a giant Monopoly game.

           So, my obvious advice is threefold:

1. If you’re deluding yourself about spending the rest of your career not contributing to or benefitting from corporate togetherness, you’re off target. Adjust your expectations and embrace the office.
2. Don’t be so impressed with remote. I worked remote in the seventies and eighties (in sales) and I ran nationwide salesforces in the nineties – all without email or the internet. We went out into the field with a pocket full of dimes, connecting by pay phones. Modern technology just makes it easier for more than just territory reps to work remote. But it doesn’t replace personal touch.
3. And don’t bring it up in interviews. As one HR executive told me in confidence, if your questions as a candidate center around working at home under the guise of work-life balance, rather than how you can contribute to the company’s success, you’ve just made yourself an ex-candidate.        

           It’s a good idea, then, to stop obsessing with remote work as an end unto itself and start seeing it as a means to a greater end.

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Career Coach Eli Amdur provides one-on-one coaching in job search, résumés, and interviewing.

Reach him at [email protected] or 201-357-5844.