Three Days At The Office, Two Days WFH: Are You Ready To Switch To Hybrid Working?
Employees are slowly going back to the office, and they share their takeaways.
A year and four months ago, the whole world was forced to switch to remote working. We adjusted to a virtual workspace, maximizing the benefits that technology has to offer, especially since we have limited mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As vaccine rollouts are slowly being implemented, the economy is slowly shifting as well. As the economy prepares to go back to “normal,” remote working might soon be a thing of the past. Enter “hybrid work,” the newest model of flexible work setup in the post-COVID world.
What is hybrid working?
In an article by Forbes, the hybrid work model is described as “the opportunity to work two or three days a week in the office, but also provide for a substantial amount of people solely working remotely.”
Basically, it is a blended model that combines on-site and remote work. Employees would slowly go back to their offices but would still have the opportunity to work from home.
Karl, a 30-year-old Marketing Manager, switched to hybrid working in May this year.
“Nu’ng nag-lockdown, wala naman naging choice ang lahat ng companies but to work from home and meet through Zoom,” he says. “Now that most of our employees are vaccinated, the company decided to slowly go back to the office.”
Pros and cons of hybrid working
Karl says that as a Marketing Manager, most of his projects require countless meetings and back-and-forth emails.
“One of the benefits of hybrid working is that meetings are easier [to set up],” he explains. “The team gets to meet and understand one another without the hassle of finding reliable internet connection or [troubleshooting] tech problems.”
Dissemination of information is also easier with hybrid working, according to him.
“The company requires us to work in the office thrice a week, every Tuesday at Thursday nasa bahay lang kami at work-from-home pa rin,” he says.
Aside from having a more flexible working arrangement, the hybrid model also allows Karl and his team to have better work-life balance.
“It’s not a sudden 180-switch, kumbaga may oras kami para slowly masanay ulit na halos araw-araw pumupunta sa office,” he shares. “Mahigit isang taon din since we last stepped into our offices, s’yempre kailangan pa rin ng adjustment period when it comes to that.”
However, hybrid working poses some disadvantages as well. Since we’re still in the middle of the pandemic, the logistics of going to the office might still be difficult for most employees.
“Ang nahihirapan lang kami ng mga colleagues ko about this set-up is that not all of us have cars, not all of us have enough money to book Grab or Angkas just to go to work and go home from work,” he explains. Most of Karl’s colleagues still take public transport.
Karl says that it can also be more challenging for managers like him to oversee his team, since not all of them are under the same set-up.
“Only 50% capacity is allowed at the office, so while some of my co-workers are at the office, some are at home. It can be quite difficult to manage a team this way,” he explains.
Though Karl admits that no flexible working set-up is perfect for everyone, he says that hybrid working is a cool way to establish a good relationship with your colleagues.
“I guess we kind of forgot to have a relationship with our colleagues outside of work, kasi nga lahat tayo sa screen lang nagkikita, but slowly, through hybrid working, we get to talk and take care of each other.”
How companies can help their employees
There are several things to consider when it comes to working in the new normal. But before anything else, the most important question companies should ask is, how will I be able to protect my employees during this difficult time?
Sales Associate Marissa, 26, switched to the hybrid set-up in the early weeks of June 2021. She shares that though their office allows 50% capacity, this could still put employees at risk for COVID-19.
“If companies are going to require their employees to go back to the office, even if it’s just for two days a week, they need to make sure that their health won’t be put at risk,” she says. Marissa suggests that companies provide vaccination for all of their employees before requiring them to report on-site.
“As someone who is currently under this work model, we really struggle with transportation,” she says. “Twice a week lang ako required mag-report sa office, and I don’t think that’s enough for me to rent an apartment in the city. So nag-co-commute ako, I’m sure I have co-workers with the same experience too.”
Marissa recommends that companies provide shuttle services if they want their employees to report back to work. “This way, you won’t risk your employees’ health,” she says.
