News in the CX stratosphere this week was that employees have said they would be willing to take pay cuts in their roles to be able to continue working from home. Yep, you read that right. And yes, it made me furious too.
There appears to be a growing trend of late whereby some business leaders (who will remain nameless!) have been slashing their workers’ salaries should they want to continue to work from the comfort of their own homes. The latest on this is that 15% of workers would be willing to take a 25% pay cut if business leaders allowed them to continue to work remotely, a survey from Breeze has found. An even larger 65% of employees would take a 5% pay cut to stay working form home, the report from the Nebraska-based insurance company found, while nearly 40% would be willing to give up their health benefits and 44% would forgo dental coverage. The figures signal a major change in how workers now view on-prem offices and highlights the increasing value employees place on a better lifestyle balance.
Jon Swift, a regional vice president for the global talent solutions firm Robert Half, said: “In the past 16 months they’ve had time to adapt to this new lifestyle.
“People who might not be that interested in working from home before are now resistant to the idea of going back to the office.”
His commentary was upbeat, though I find it hard to see the situation that way. How could businesses think it right to cut the salaries of their employees who simply wish for a better work-life balance?
Admittedly, I am biased on the matter. An advocate for remote working, myself and my co-workers are blessed with no commute, no office politics and no grappling with the social hierarchy in an on-prem setting. It does come with its challenges, that said. Personally, I run every day just to get out the house and get some air on lunch breaks to avoid the feeling that I’m sleeping and living in my place of work. It’s a balancing act, and one that requires discipline. But it’s worth it a million times over.
It’s disappointing to read that despite the overwhelming success of remote working throughout the pandemic – with workers keeping businesses afloat when they could have crumbled under the weight of COVID-19 – businesses have reverted back to their old ways connotations of working from home negativity.
My hope is that these stark new figures will make companies see the light. Because if they don’t, business leaders might well have a second battle on their hands after the coronavirus pandemic.
