Speaking of returning to workplaces

This from the BBC is a good overview of some of the not-so-hidden costs of the return to workplaces after the last couple of years. And it’s not just the matter of potential health issues given the virus remains in circulation.

It’s not surprising that political leaders want us back at our desks. Without daily commutes and dining ‘al desko’, businesses of all types and sizes are losing out financially. One day of commuting is worth £82m ($107m) to businesses in the UK; in the US, workers spent between $2,000 and $5,000 (£1,536–£3,840) on transport to work alone each year before the pandemic.  

But there’s a problem. Employees who haven’t had to budget for train tickets, takeaway coffees or new office outfits for the past two years are now acutely aware of how much it costs to spend a day at your desk. And, worse, these costs are growing. Petrol prices are at an all-time high; transport fares have increased, and food and other essentials are on an upwards trajectory. That means an office day can hit the wallet hard.

For some the disparities – particularly with employers for whom such costs are absorbed by salaries/expense accounts, have come into sharp focus. 

“It’s an issue of fairness,” says Jean-Nicolas Reyt, assistant professor of organisational behaviour at McGill. He explains that we determine fairness not just based on what our colleagues are receiving, but also what other people doing different jobs at different organisations are getting – so if one company is subsidising their employees’ commutes, then workers elsewhere are likely to want the same benefit. 

“People don’t stay an unfair situation; they work less, or usually they quit,” adds Reyt. “If some companies start giving people money to commute, this is going to become the norm, the market will readjust.” Reyt encourages employers to pick their battles. “CEOs talk to me as if the goal is to reduce all costs,” he says, but an enforced back-to-office policy, without any perks, will likely have unintended consequences for employee retention. “It’s not worth it to cut corners. The overall costs are so much bigger than these savings.” 

But – clearly, for many workers, particularly those who are low paid and in under and non-unionised environments, there’s no respite. For them the situation remains as it always has of having to cover costs themselves across a range of areas and do this when paid far too little. 

So really this is a key point in relation to work and workplaces and workers where there’s an opportunity to shift matters in a better direction. Discussing this at the weekend with a friend we were both of the opinion that much has changed, even in the private sector, for many in workplaces. But for others little or nothing has changed and it is key to ensure they benefit from any new dispensation.