In March of 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic shook the world. Whole industries were turned on their head and life as we knew it seemed to come to a screeching halt. In addition to the obvious health consequences presented by COVID-19, there were a number of unwelcome changes to our daily lives. We suddenly couldn’t go places that we once frequently visited, we weren’t able to see our loved ones like we used to, and we suddenly were required to maintain social distancing and wear masks whenever we were out in public. One change, however, while perhaps not initially well received, has people hesitant to go back to the old ways.
In order to stem the tide of the highly contagious virus, millions of workers across the world were suddenly asked to work from home. Now, as we seem to be slowly coming come out of the pandemic, many are hesitant to go back. Some of the reasons for this are fairly simple and should be expected. People are now saving money on gas by not commuting, they have more time to spend with loved ones, and they are able to work from the comfort of their own home rather than in the high-pressure environment that is often associated with the workplace. Other benefits, however, were less expected. Many businesses are now seeing that performance and productivity has actually increased since allowing employees to work from home. Some businesses are seeing as much as a 13% increase in performance and a ridiculous 77% increase in productivity. Much of this can be attributed to an absence of many of the distractions that are inherent in an office setting. With less interruptions and a quieter work environment, many people are simply getting more done.
That isn’t to say that all people are automatically more productive when working from home. Research has shown that it can often depend on the type of task given. People who are given boring tasks to do while working at home are more likely to become distracted and would likely function better in an office setting whereas people who are assigned more creative tasks with less restraints were able to accomplish more in a shorter period of time. Research has also shown that performance will actually decrease if every person in the office is working from home and that the more people work from home the less productive they will become over time. This could likely explain why we are seeing, and will continue to see, more businesses establishing a sort of home/in-office hybrid workplace. This work setting has employees only come into the office 2-3 days a week while working from home on the remaining days. Only time will tell if we eventually go back to a fully in-office workplace again, but for the time being, it appears that this new style of work is here to stay.
This blog post is part of the CIMA Law Group Blog. If you are in need of legal help, the CIMA Law Group is a law firm in Phoenix, Arizona which possesses expertise in Immigration Law, Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, and Government Relations.
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