Executives Who Led the End of Remote Work Actually Come to the Office Less Than Employees?[Jjinbit]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] With the government's complete lifting of social distancing measures, many office workers who had been working from home are returning to their offices. Previously, on Jjinbit, I mentioned that executives and employees have been having a 'different dreams in the same bed' (April 10: Executives say "Come in," employees say "Work from home"... Office return 'different dreams in the same bed') regarding office return. Today, I want to share some notable news related to this.

On the 19th (local time), Future Forum, a consortium created by the enterprise messenger platform Slack, released a report titled "Inflexible office return policies are eroding employees' experience scores." The survey was conducted in January and February among 10,818 knowledge workers across six countries: the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia. The report pointed out the issue of a 'double standard by C-suite executives,' highlighting a growing gap in perspectives between executives and employees.

(Source: Future Forum data capture)

What this means is that executives who have been leading the push for office returns actually have a much lower rate of working five days a week in the office compared to employees. When asked separately about working five days a week in the office, 19% of executives said yes, while 35% of employees did, showing a significant difference. Overall, 21% of respondents, regardless of position, said they wanted to work five days a week in the office, but the actual attendance rate varied depending on whether they were executives or not.

Brian Elliott, Senior Vice President at Slack and the lead of Future Forum, explained to CNBC that while executives encourage office work for their teams, they prefer a flexible hybrid approach for themselves. He said, "Even when executives issue office return orders, they have more autonomy over their schedules than employees." Ultimately, the flexibility to choose where to work is a privilege that differs between employees and executives.

The survey also found that returning to the office negatively impacts employees' mental health. About 34% of respondents said they had returned to a five-day workweek, the highest since Future Forum began surveying in June 2020. This suggests that, not only in Korea but worldwide?including the U.S. and Europe?companies are rushing to bring employees back to the office following the end of the Omicron variant wave.

After returning to office work, when asked about their work-life balance scores, employees rated their personal satisfaction 40% lower than executives. Compared to the fourth quarter of last year, the decline among employees was five times greater than that of executives. This indicates that employees are experiencing relatively more stress related to office returns than executives. In fact, survey results showed that employees' work-related stress and anxiety levels have reached their highest since summer 2020, at twice the level of executives.

Deborah Lovich, Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), stated, "Employees have clearly demonstrated that they can work effectively with flexibility in their work environment." She added, "If executives roll back this flexibility, employees will be ready to leave in large numbers."

Previously, I reported that the 'different dreams in the same bed' regarding work styles between executives and employees stemmed from differences in experiences with remote work, according to Senior Vice President Elliott. The stress and anxiety related to office returns likely arise from these differences as well. It is important that this growing gap in perspectives does not widen further. Instead of rigidly enforcing a single 'correct' work method?whether office return or remote work?active communication between executives and employees and efforts to find an optimal work style that satisfies both parties are crucial.

Editor's Note[Jjinbit] is short for 'Jeong Hyunjin's Business Trend' and 'Real Business Trend,' a segment showcasing trends in corporate management such as organizational culture and HR systems. The emergence of the MZ generation, the expansion of remote work due to COVID-19, and digital innovation all call for innovation in organizational culture. Based on diverse overseas news and analyses that have not received much attention, we aim to deliver fresh and differentiated information and perspectives.