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As the owner of a small but growing technology consulting and staffing company, I have some insight and visibility into workplace trends. I often find myself using the tools and techniques that I share with you on investing in the business world. For example, I try to track certain trends related to cybersecurity job openings. One of my most prescient calls a few years ago was shared in an email blast that I posted to my job network. The call was the rise of the remote job openings. While I had made the shift to full remote work about five years ago, I noticed and commented on the increasing rise of remote work. If I get a chance I will post and share that email newsletter from a few years ago. I personally believe that trend has triggered employer productivity, employee flexibility, and a less biased playing field. I can provide myself and few other consultants that have worked with and for me as a "use case". We have contributed to an increased amount of workplace productivity as I often have a more difficult time turning work off. A sad example would be the fact that I check my workplace laptop as I pass by office during my off hours. I tend to justify my increased workload by fairly noting that working remote has increased my family flexibility. For the first time in my adult life, I found relief in being able to go to the post office, put laundry in the washer, get my kids from daycare timely, grab the groceries, and occasionally cut the grass during my lunch break. These were things that were only left for after work evenings and weekends. Finally, I also found that working remotely has increased the pool of employers that needed my skillset, exposed me to better pay wages, and I feel I didn't have to some aspects of racism in the corporate world. While, I know many interviewers will check my LinkedIn account and do a Google search, I've finally shifted the tide and feel like I can control my narrative a bit. I don't have a huge presence on the internet and it's politically incorrect to ask for me to add you to my LinkedIn profile -- so I personally believe I'm being evaluated on my resume, interview skills and experience, with less of the biases the office culture. Many people don't realize a previous trend that saw corporate offices move to suburbs in mass droves. What this silently meant was city dwellers (often younger adults) and minority communities often dealt with the burden of longer commutes. I personally lived is a large metro city and when I bought my home, I chose a majority minority enclave of the city. It was perfect! My neighbors were: multiple lawyers, multiple doctors, multiple police and law enforcement persons, and members of academia. They were all minorities and lived in my building. This was home, this was comfort, this was the dream. But my move also now meant a longer commute as my company had no presence in the city as it was located in a less populous and diverse suburb. Instead of companies understanding this burden being placed on its workforce, I was a betting prop in my department. One of my colleagues openly acknowledged, years later, they were surprised I did not move or change jobs after I made my first home purchased. What is a logical idea, is illogical in a world where most corporations are not setup in minority communities. The blessing in disguise has been an older graying workforce that is causing and FORCING employers to finally listen. The younger workers being interviewed started declining job offers at my company which finally caused them to open a city office location where we could work from. Imagine that -- overnight my commute was cut my more that half and my commute options doubled. I was even being exposed to a healthier lifestyle as I often has to walk from the bus or train stop to my office. The rise of WeWork and younger workers demanding more flexibility has been a game changer.
So let's fast forward to the trends I am seeing today. I have seen a sharp increase in the last 3-6 months of job opening demanding that workers be "Onsite from Day 1" to a term called "hybrid". This means that the worker may be in the office 3 out of 5 days a week. I went from interviewing and filling job roles a rapid clip, to know a grind of potential new hires asking me is this job really in the office and me constantly confirming with recruiters. I've often taught you all here to do one thing when you usually get to the bottom of an increasing trend and that's to Follow the Money. So, I wasn't surprised when I read a recent article citing that one of the main reasons companies are requiring workers to return to the office is due to financial reasons. The commercial real estate industry, jobs that support those commercial districts and even the tax breaks that have been negotiated with corporations all top the list of reasons why grey-haired males leading Corporate American firms are rallying around strong statements demanding workers return. While I do understand that some job roles and an increased corporate culture stand to gain from being onsite, I personally have stated I will not return to onsite work. Now I can take a stance like that because I'm established in my career, have diversified my income and follow the Pillars that I write about here, what will be interesting is if the younger generation and other on the fence can win the battle of remote work.
Don't believe me, just read. The following article from Bloomberg, shares some context on how tax breaks are pushing employers to demand workers return to the office:
Source: Bloomberg
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