Pros And Cons: Remote v. In-Person

As a business owner, you’ve likely found yourself having to rethink your company’s work-from-home policy over the past few months. Given that more and more large corporations have been making moves to have their employees return to the office five days a week, it would seem likely that more and more businesses will follow suit in the coming months. But what are the reasons for businesses doing this? If there was one thing that we all learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, it was that a lot of work that’s typically done in the office can most of the time be done at home. What are the advantages, then, of returning to the office? Are there drawbacks to remaining remote or hybrid?

While these are all relatively new questions, there not ones that we here at Payday HCM haven’t seen from current or potential clients. Again, given that companies like UPS and Boeing are making RTO moves, it would seem that a reevaluation of any work-from-home policy is in order at the very least. Understanding the benefits and drawbacks between the two, though, can sometimes be a little unclear. 

In this article, we’ll go over the pros and cons of remote/hybrid work versus a completely in-person office. We’ll look at the benefits of each of these different strategies and analyze the drawbacks as well. By the end of this article, you’ll have all of the information you need to make an informed decision for your business.

In this article, you will learn:

• The Pros and Cons of Remote/Hybrid Work
• The Pros and Cons of Returning to the Office

The Pros and Cons of Remote/Hybrid Work

Firstly, we’ll take a look at the pros and cons of working from home and a hybrid work policy. While this work style was popularized as a means of finding a way for businesses to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic, they maintained their popularity and have stuck around.

The Advantages Of Working From Home

When the COVID-19 pandemic finally began showing signs of slowing down, many remote or hybrid work arrangement policies set in place by companies did not. While there were the obvious surface-level benefits to working from home, such as just being able to do the job at home, there were many other benefits that revealed themselves over time.

A survey by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that employees with the option to work from home had significantly lower attrition rates than those who worked solely in person. The work-from-home employees also logged more working hours across a more flexible schedule and reported that they were more productive when working from home.

Working from home can also have significant gains for employee mental health. According to a study performed by Ergotron, 75 percent of employees who work hybrid or remotely report having a better work-life balance compared to when working strictly in the office. This is because working from home allows employees to spend more time with family and stress less about making time for things like dentist appointments or picking up the kids from school.

Flexible work arrangements are especially beneficial for working parents, as there is less stress around taking care of the kids while at work. Women especially feel these impacts: according to a study performed by Gartner, women were 11 percent less likely to stay at a company that would introduce a strict RTO policy.

Not only that, but remote and hybrid work policies became relatively popular among employees. According to Gallup, around nine in 10 employees whose jobs could be performed remotely preferred to have some sort of hybrid working option. Not only that, but three in 10 hybrid workers are likely to leave an organization if there is no hybrid option available.

The Drawbacks of Working From Home

Working from home presents its own challenges and drawbacks, largely resulting from the reality of staying at home and working. Worries about lowered collaboration and decreased communication are, in most cases, justified.

A study published in Nature Human Behavior found that remote workers at Microsoft become more siloed and less communicative with those outside of their team. The study also found that remote workers spend about 25 percent less time collaborating with coworkers compared to pre-pandemic levels. This was naturally accompanied by an increase in asynchronous communication methods like Zoom or Teams.

On the flip side of work-life balance, remote work can also present its own challenges when your home is also your office. According to Buffer, some remote workers cited that trouble unplugging from work was their biggest drawback with remote work, with 81 percent of them checking their email outside work hours.

Alongside this, there are potential dangers for employee mental health in relation to remote work. The same study performed by Buffer found that 21 percent of remote workers will simply opt to stay home instead of leaving the house simply because they don’t have a reason to. A survey from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found that nearly three-quarters of of executives reported that workers were feeling isolated from working remotely.

The Pros and Cons of Returning to the Office

Seeing as returning to the office has become more popular in recent months, now is a good time to consider the pros and cons of encouraging your workforce to return in person full-time.

The Benefits of Working In-Person

With the rise of RTO policies, most employers are hoping to achieve some sort of “water-cooler effect.” Essentially, by bringing back employees in person, their hope is that collaboration and interaction between employees will increase. 

This effect could be achieved. The study published in Nature Human Behavior referenced earlier did find that remote work environments hinder employee collaboration, meaning bringing the workforce back to the office could encourage this.

Another study performed by Workplace Unlimited found that workers generally view working in the office as being better for development, with 90 percent of respondents indicating things like team-work, mentoring, and socializing are all activities better suited to working in-person. Respondents also listed creativity as something else that’s more present when working in the office.

When it comes to employing an RTO policy, they can often be perceived as unpopular. According to Forbes, this could be because of Reactance Theory: when people perceive something as a threat to their freedom, they’ll do their best to regain or retain said freedoms. When companies roll back work-from-home policies, it’s often seen as management restricting their employees’ freedom.

In order to avoid this, it’s best to empathize with the point of view of your employees and the struggles they may be facing when working remotely. Respond to their wants and needs and ensure the policy is helpful for everyone.

The Drawbacks Of Returning to the Office

When looking strictly as working in person, the drawbacks are pretty closely intertwined with the benefits of a hybrid work environment. Of course, some of these things could depend on workplace culture (work-life balance), but some of them are definitely just strictly benefits of working remotely.

One of the bigger advantages of working remotely—and, therefore, a drawback to working in person—is commuting. According to Clever Real Estate, a commuter spends about 19 percent of their annual income on commuting costs. Not having to work in person, either some or all of the work week, would mean a significant amount of money saved for those with longer commutes.

As demonstrated above, a strict in-person policy can also inhibit workers who are parents. The added stress of ensuring their kids have access to the proper care during the workday can increase stress and decrease productivity. At worst, it could lead to burnout.

When looking at RTO policies specifically, some employers have been using them as a method to encourage “back-channel layoffs.” A study by BambooHR found that a quarter of VP and C-suite executives hoped that their company’s RTO policy would lead to voluntary turnover. While this isn’t every company, it is something to keep in mind when thinking about employee perception of the company’s brand.

Is It Time To Zoom Back Into The Office?

So, then, is it time to ditch the hybrid model and get everybody back into the office? Or, is it time to say goodbye to the traditional office space and embrace the new digital remote world? Well, it depends. Ultimately, these are tricky questions—ones that business owners are having to ask themselves more frequently, given current events. Changing workplace policy around anything is no small task, let alone the policy that dictates whether you’ll actually have to get up and put on something other than pajamas to go to work in.

Hopefully, though, with the information in this article, you’ll be able to make an informed decision for your business—one that is guided by your organization’s specific needs. But whether you decide to return to the office or to stay at home, there are other ways to improve your workplace’s culture—check out our article on four benefits that can bolster your workplace culture.