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In the United States, the list of companies asking their employees to return to the office full-time is growing by the day. An unexpected about-face that goes down badly with executives, too accustomed to the organizational freedom that teleworking offers. The latter would only be willing to give it up in exchange for a substantial salary increase.
In just a few years, teleworking has become entrenched in the practices of American employees. Many of them don’t plan to be 100% in the office again. Currently, 24% of workers in Uncle Sam’s country work in hybrid mode, that is to say they alternate between face-to-face and remote work, according to the latest edition of the “Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes”. However, their numbers could decline in the coming months, driven by technology companies like Amazon and Dell, which are forcing their teams to return to their premises full time.
But they still have to agree to play the game. Indeed, employees who are remote one day a week would be ready to give up this advantage in exchange for a salary increase of 9.6%, according to the “Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes. Unsurprisingly, certain categories of employees value teleworking more than others. This is the case for thirty-somethings with dependent children, who have completed higher education. They would agree to come to the office every day if their pay increased by 10 to 15 percent, Nicholas Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford and co-author of the study, told Business Insider.
Several factors explain the reluctance of American workers to return to the site full time. Distancing allows employees to save travel time between home and the office: working from the couch would save teleworkers around the world an average of 72 minutes per day, according to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research dating from 2023. A considerable saving of time that active people reinvest in their business. On the other hand, teleworking facilitates the balance between private and professional lives, without significantly harming productivity.
However, American employers are not very sensitive to these arguments, as they are convinced that it is preferable to be face-to-face to communicate and work effectively. As a result, “full remote” hiring announcements are declining in the United States. But leaders who announce the end of teleworking could bite their fingers. Hybrid working has become the norm for many workers, especially young graduates. They do not hesitate to refuse positions if they are not offered this opportunity. Imposing face-to-face is therefore one of the riskiest bets in terms of talent retention.