Before the Coronapandemia, few were working at a distance so that 43 percent of those surveyed stated that they worked from home at least one day in the week 2021 In the least, meant a fast shift.
– Homework grew a little over time, but took a huge shot when the pandemic broke out. What had happened over the past 15 years happened in a week, says Jonas Grafström, a doctor of economics and vice president of the business research institute Ratio.
And when the risk of infection has gone down, many employers continued to offer office employees some type of hybrid job. Increased productivity and better health were predicted as two of the positive effects.
– At the individual level, distance jobs can have very positive effects, for example regarding health and quality of life. But now five years later it is seen that this is not always the case at the organizational level, says Jonas Grafström.
“Return to Office” – what does the future look like?
Several large companies and employers, both internationally and in Sweden, have in recent years tightened the opportunity for distance work. According to Jonas Grafström, it is partly about seeing that certain tasks simply work better when employees meet, but also about changes that have taken place since the pandemic.
– One reason it worked so well when we started working from home may be that we came from a place where we had worked together in offices and were interconnected. Today, maybe many have moved on, the culture and contacts are not automatically, he says.
But that we completely return to the offices, Jonas Grafström does not see as likely.
– I think hybrid work is the new normal, in cases where it works. Even if you do not use homework every day, it is an opportunity that you value.
In the video, Jonas Grafström talks about three arguments behind the “Return to Office” trend.