A few days ago, Sam Altman, the creator of ChatGpT, attacked one of the ways of working that has been established with the pandemic: the home office. The entrepreneur said it is “not a good option for new companies”.
However, his vision contrasts with the reality of many companies which, in fact, have found a possibility to work remotely maintain your productivity, reduce costs and adapt to the greater flexibility your employees seek. Today, among companies that do, more than 80 percent apply a mix of face-to-face and remote approaches.
The concern is whether this situation will be circumstantial or continue over time. Again “in Argentina We are in a learning process, a trial and error, about new forms of work,” he argues Alexander ServidesDirector of Professionals, RPO and Technologies at randstad Argentina.
“In principle, not all works fit the format. Only 30% of companies can do hybrid jobs, given that this is not the case in healthcare, commerce or the hotel sector”, explains the expert, for example. “But even in the segment that can do hybrid or fully remote business, some companies are asking for it the new staff assumed to attend the first 90 days in the workplace for better absorption of organizational culture, says the consultant.
This was demonstrated by a recent survey conducted by the consulting firm Hucap among 113 companies in Argentina 88% have a mixed schedule, 10% face-to-face in their entirety and 2% work 100% remotely, something that is best done among tech companies.
Among the 88% (80 companies) that choose a mixed scheme, the sample demonstrates this 48% work 2 days remotely and 3 days in person, 42% 3 days remotely and 2 in presence, 8% only 1 day remotely and 2% choose the method of 4 days remotely and 1 in presence. This scores a strong market trend towards 2/3 days of remote work per week.
Gustavo Agileradirector of Talent Solutions and People & Culture at manpowergroup believes that “although during the lockdown we were forced to adapt to a 100% virtual model, today, three years later, We are facing a scenario in which this is happening a balance between one modality and another”, he says.
According to Servidi, There are reasons that play in favor of the continuation of the Ministry of the Interior and others against. “For example, the lack of talent does companies accept teleworking because the transfer of people hinders its performance, if it is face to face On the other hand, there is a question of space: not all companies are willing to receive all their staff at the same time, with whom they distribute their assistance by team or by departments”, he describes.
Productivity deterioration
On the other hand, according to the expert, the productivity that was growing in 2020, when workers feared losing their jobs, it was deteriorating in some cases, with which, in his opinion, “the hybrid work will remain as long as companies manage to reconcile organizational culture, productivity and availability of physical spaces“, he indicated.
Speaking of spaces, Rocio Robelo, country manager of WeWork Argentina, a company that provides jobs outside of companies, commented that they have achieved 100% occupancy at their Retiro headquarters in recent months. And he argued: “According to our most recent study conducted together with consultant Michael Page, 83% of Argentines are implementing the hybrid work model. It is the country in the region with a higher percentage of work in this mode compared to the rest,” he said.
Second Federico Barni, CEO of Jobint“After the peak of remote work during the pandemic, there is a tendency to return to face-to-face or to establish hybrid working formats. According to data from Bumeran, in January of this year, 55% of Argentine professionals said that the companies they work for opt for a 100% face-to-face system, the 40% for a hybrid and 5% for a remote 100%.
Face-to-face pressure
While, Cecilia GiordanoPresident of mercersays that “today there is a friction between many companies that want to start having employees themselves at least between 2 and 3 days a week and collaborators, who don’t want to come back unless it’s really something that generates value”.
“What we are seeing is that there is growing pressure for collaborators to come back, which is not well seen by the employees in terms of the flexibility gained,” he said.
For the manager of Manpower it would be necessary “abandon this dichotomy between remote work and face-to-face work to look for complementary alternatives where the working environment and the conditions offered to people take priority. This is the point that most organizations currently make,” she concluded.
Source: Clarin
