WORKFORCE
Flexing Their Muscles
By: Phil Mobley As tenants struggle to fill literal and figurative seats, their expectations for landlords are changing We are now about a year into The Great Resignation, a period of unprecedented voluntary job quitting. The trend emerged last spring in overworked, understaffed sectors like logistics and hospitality. By the end of 2021, it was rippling through the knowledge workforce (see Figure 1), with quits exceeding historical norms in professional services, finance, information, and even government. The battle to attract and retain talent is impacting organizations across the economy as wages grow rapidly and office-using employment is back to normal.
Workplace environment now plays a key role in this battle. Specifically, knowledge workers now demand the flexibility to spend at least some working days at home (or at another remote location). Even some who were initially skeptical of the “hybrid” model have now accepted it as a new reality. A year ago, for example, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was a prominent supporter of the 5-day, in-office workweek. But in April, he acknowledged that “working from home will become more permanent in American business.” Going forward, roughly 40% of the firm’s employees will work some form of a hybrid schedule.
Figure 1
Persona-based Flexibility Dimon and others are acquiescing to a desire that has been expressed in innumerable surveys of workers over the past two years. “The data we have collected suggests that 75-85% of employees across all industries want some degree of flexibility to work remotely,” says Rick Ybarra, Principal, Americas Consulting at Avison Young. The challenge for employers is to adapt their policies and workplaces to keep these workers both happy and effective. Ybarra says it begins with employee personas: “As we have engaged with clients on understanding the mobility and activity profile of their employees.” Note: Seasonally adjusted Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Avison Young Insight
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Insight • Special Issue, 2022
Once employee mobility and activity profiles are established, the next step is defining the appropriate policy. Ybarra stresses that no single
