Very few graduates imagined themselves starting their career from their bedroom, communicating with colleagues by email and over tiring Zoom calls.
But, of course, a whole cohort of college-leavers found themselves in just that situation over the past two years, as graduate programmes were scaled down and new hires found themselves working from home.
Even as society has opened back up, many people went back to the office, in a hybrid model, but still spent two or three days working from home. That’s all well and good if you know your colleagues and have spent a few years working alongside them, but should graduates go to the office in order to get to know their colleagues and figure out the lay of the land? And, as the housing crisis squeezes younger people out of the locations where most offices are, can you make it to the office even if you want to?
“Hybrid working is where it’s at,” says Sinéad Brady, a career psychologist who focuses on helping companies and individuals to make positive changes for the workplace.
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“This is a mixture of working in the office and either from home or somewhere else. Not everyone has the privilege of having a space that they can work from at home, so some people are using libraries, coffee shops or workplace hubs.”
Regan O’Driscoll is one of Ireland’s leading employment law experts and a partner in CC Solicitors, which takes on cases from both employees and employers.
“Employer resistance has probably historically been based on a lack of trust, but the pandemic has shown they can trust their employees,” she says. “Where most people are ambitious and want to work well, they have achieved that from home. So it is becoming harder for employers to justify a refusal.”
There is no specific right in law to work from home although legislation is currently being considered giving employees the right to request it.
“But if you need to because of disability, or family/caring responsibilities - which does tend to affect women more than men- it can be problematic for an employer to refuse,” says O’Driscoll.
“A blanket policy of not permitting remote working might not be discriminatory on its face, but where it adversely affects anyone with a protected characteristic, such as where it is indirectly discriminatory, they need to objectively justify the policy.”
Brady says that the best employers are using an individual approach.
“We expect every other aspect of our lives to be individualised, from our social media feeds to our shopping habits, so the organisations that get it are saying let’s make this work for everyone and have a core day where all our team is in place. You may have a manager or team leader who prefers you in the office, and it’s worth asking open questions about their preference.”
The housing crisis means that some people, regardless of how much money or contacts they have, simply can’t find a place to live anywhere near their office.
“If you can’t, for instance, be in Dublin for five days a week, you could perhaps do two days there, but it’s a good idea to shift those days around so you can meet different parts of a team,” suggests Brady.
“So if, as a new graduate, you are going for a hybrid working model, alternate the days you are in the office. Friday is a day when most people are in the office. You do want to build connections and be strategic about it so, when you are there, as colleagues if you can grab a coffee or have a face-to-face. And there may be other graduates in the same phase as you that you will get to know. It’s about trying to match what works for you with what works for your boss, and getting to meet as many people as you can.”
Brady says that a good organisation will be conscious of the housing and cost of living crisis facing graduates and will try to offer at least some degree of flexibility.
“Companies are having these challenges at every level, not just junior level, and they need to think about this if they want the best people working for them.”
Working from home: a checklist
Working from home isn’t just as simple as rolling out of bed. Employment lawyer Regan O’Driscoll says that, if there is an agreement to work from home, employers and employees still have the same rights and responsibilities as someone in the office.
In particular, O’Driscoll says, employers need to ensure that your workplace is safe, wherever it is.
“A risk assessment should be conducted. They may need to put in place arrangements to address risks, such as, for instance, adequate back supports or mouse pads. They need to take reasonable steps to ensure your workspace will not cause you an injury.
“Employers need to ensure that you are not working too many hours, and getting adequate rest. The effect of isolation on mental health can be a risk as well: managers should be careful to link in and communicate. Employees also need to cooperate with their employer about health and safety. Ultimately, it all comes down to good communication on both sides. The Department of Enterprise has a useful checklist for employers at enterprise.gov.ie.”
Working from home: My experience
This freelance journalist has worked remotely for the vast majority of his working life and, while I’m able to do my day-to-day job without meeting my editors and colleagues, I doubt I would be able to have forged good connections if I’d never been into the office.
Much of the work I do outside education coverage, for instance, came about because I was in the office and was, mostly informally, introduced to the various different editors, even if I didn’t see them again in person for another year or two.
These kind of interactions can not really be replicated by sending an email - you simply become another person that the manager has to get to - or on a phone call or even a Zoom In another organisation I occasionally work for, some of our best ideas came about because we having some office banter that sparked an idea that, in turn, led to a project.
Working from home does take some discipline, and you need to make sure you do take regular breaks and eat properly (and, ideally, not at your desk). Get away from the desk for a few minutes every hour and try to incorporate some movement into your day - dance in the kitchen when nobody is watching, walk up and down the stairs, stroll 200 metres up the road and back.
So, if you are working from home, I’d highly recommend getting into the office at least occasionally. Due to the housing crisis, it may be tricky to even commute to the office from a distance a day a week, but try and go in, if you can, even once a month, travelling back that night if you can’t find a couch to sleep on. Otherwise, in my view at least, you’re likely to find yourself, however inadvertently, left behind.
