Three years after the pandemic closed down offices around the world, the remote-work revolution has morphed into a tug-of-war between frustrated bosses and fed-up staff.
While workers don¡¯t want to give up flexibility, leaders want teams back to boost collaboration and avoid a productivity slump. The impasse is the latest phase in a high-stakes battle that¡¯s putting careers, profits ¡ª and mental health ¡ª on the line. It¡¯s also prompting conversations about how to move beyond binary debates over ¡°working from home¡± and ¡°return to the office.¡±
Some executives are losing patience with remote and hybrid working. ¡°Things changed over the course of the pandemic,¡± said Martin Sorrell, founder of WPP and chairman of S4 Capital, who has performed an about-turn on the issue. ¡°At the beginning, it worked well. Then the productivity levels and enthusiasm waned a bit and the lack of engagement on a face-to-face basis was an issue,¡± Sorrell said in an interview.
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