The WFH acronym (work from home) entered the lexicon back in the dark days of 2020 when remote working became the norm overnight thanks to Covid-19. Now, four years later, another acronym has entered the chat – RTO or “return to office”.
Many companies are now attempting to increase the time spent by their people on site while an increasing number of world-leading corporations such as Amazon and Starbucks are mandating a full-time return to the office for employees, with many of them citing productivity and the need for greater collaboration as the key reasons.
Central Statistics Office (CSO) data shows the number of people working mainly from home increased by 173 per cent between 2016 and 2022, soaring from 94,955 workers to 259,467. But what was thought to be a fundamental and permanent shift in how and where we work now appears to be reversing. Is a widespread RTO now inevitable or is the death of WFH being greatly exaggerated?
A recent report from Ibec suggests the majority of companies are not planning to increase their on-site presence. When asked about plans to change office policies, 26 per cent of companies with off-site workers said they are considering increasing on-site attendance, but the majority (53 per cent) have no plans to do so. In fact just 10 per cent of HR professionals reported 100 per cent compliance with on-site or hybrid attendance policies, and they also acknowledge that attracting and retaining talent for fully on-site roles continues to be more challenging, with more than half of respondents admitting that it is more difficult compared to hybrid and remote roles.
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Catherine O’Flynn, employment partner with law firm Mason Hayes Curran, agrees that RTO is on the rise. “There certainly does appear to be a trend in this direction in certain sectors despite the potential recruitment challenges this may bring,” she says. “I can understand the difficulties in fostering a collaborative environment if employees are permanently working from home or not all in the office at the same time. It may also be difficult to measure productivity and monitor performance.”
But many experts feel that remote and hybrid working, while not perfect, is here to stay – whether employers like it or not.
Prof Noreen Heraty is head of the department of work and employment studies at Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick. “I know that there is a growing concern among many employers that something has been lost or continues to be eroded in the hybrid workplace – whether it be with respect to the successful onboarding and socialisation of new entrants, forging strong connections between individuals, or even in developing a sense of organisational identification.
“But my personal opinion is that a return to office is not possible now because WFH and hybrid working has become an expected condition of employment for so many employees, and so any attempt to remove or revoke that will be met with resistance.”
O’Flynn agrees there may be resistance from current employees who have been working from home permanently for some time and can argue that they now have an implied right to continue with this arrangement. “This could lead to industrial relations issues and potentially employment claims,” she warns.
There is legislation now in place which enables employees to make a request to work remotely or flexibly for caring reasons, but O’Flynn says that while employers must consider the request in line with the relevant legislation, they do not have to grant such requests if there is a good business reason why they cannot facilitate the arrangement.
Heraty says it may be that some organisations have the means to mandate a full return to office working, “but there are likely to be consequences arising from that – particularly if it is not clear exactly what the benefits of RTO actually are”.