September is approaching with what for some is a relief and for others a drama, the end of teleworking, at least as we have lived it during the last year, galore.
Everything points to a massive return to physical work centers, from which leading companies have excluded themselves, taking advantage of the situation imposed by the pandemic to advance in mixed models between face-to-face and remote, increasingly inclined towards the latter.
"The most advanced companies before the pandemic, those that had a greater degree of
flexibility
and offered
teleworking on a contractual basis,
are transforming their organizational model. In the
pharmaceutical
,
telecommunications
,
consulting
or
insurance
sectors
,
offices
had already been eliminated in many cases. , and
co-creative spaces
were encouraged
. After the pandemic, the goal is for employees to go to offices to socialize, work as a team and the spaces will be prepared for them. Meetings can be held from home by video, so the offices will be transformed into spaces where innovation and the exchange of ideas will flow ", explains
Marisa Cruzado,
partner of the company
CVA
, organizer since its inception of the
Flexible Company awards
of the hand of the
Community of Madrid.
But the above, for many, is pure science fiction (co-creative spaces?).
The majority will return to the offices in the
Fray Luis de León plan
-'we said yesterday ...'-, because Spain is still determined to be behind
Europe in terms of teleworking
(only in six countries is the percentage lower than in ours). employees who telecommute occasionally or regularly).
Slightly more than
14% of companies
practice it here in some of its forms, well below the
21% that is the EU average.
MEANWHILE, IN ANOTHER WORLD ...
One of the companies that can boast of being part of that select group that long ago left teleworking behind is the consulting firm
Willis Towers Watson.
Its Human Resources director,
Ignacio Isla,
explains that long before the pandemic they already had "a telework policy generally implemented in those positions capable of developing all or part of work from home. The organization in the office is
agile working ',
that is, without having fixed sites, which encouraged teleworking, and all employees have equipment capable of working remotely ".
As was to be expected after the above, in Willis Towers Watson during the pandemic "100% teleworking has been carried out, and when the restrictions were lifted,
only whoever wanted to go to the office voluntarily,
always respecting the
bubble groups
that were implanted from our PRRLL area. In fact, we are still telecommuting in most cases today, and the return to the office in general has not been communicated. "
Facing the new start of the 'course', the company has developed a new telework policy that will be functional when the staff rejoin, with some new features adapted to the new legislation.
But for the rest, he will simply continue to maintain teleworking as a formula that, by now, is part of his DNA.
IN SHOCK
The same as in the company where María Isabel G. works. "I just found out that my company wants us all to come back in September and my hair has stood on end," explains this professional who works in a
gastronomic consultancy
in Madrid and has been teleworking more than a year, although some days he goes to the office due to a corporate imperative.
"It seems to me that this is not the time, nor is there a need. So this
effort to see the faces of
the bosses
does not fit in my head
."
Will the return mean the same sensation for the almost
three million workers
who have not been in your office for months? In Marisa Cruzado's opinion: "I think it
will be a shock rather than a relief.
We will have to be together, in closed places, but keep the mask, social distance, resort to hydroalcoholic gels or protective screens and without a doubt, submit to PCR or tests and antigens on a regular basis. It will be a return to the office full of stress and therefore, a
challenge for the HR departments
that have put
prevention
and wellness
policies
among their priorities ".
In addition, during the pandemic, and while we were adapting to the new situation, many things happened: some began to
have children;
others bought a dog;
They moved to a house with a garden, further from the center;
They instituted routines at home that now cannot be put into practice ... The consequence is that
not only will work life have to be reorganized;
also the personal.
Although some (yes, especially some, not some), are looking forward to it.
WOMEN, LESS ENTHUSIASTS OF TELEWORKING
The
Women in the Public Sector
association
conducted a survey last year to find out what impact teleworking had on women. What made it clearer is that
having or not having children
is
decisive in the perception.
In its interpretation of the data, MSP explained that "people with children assume more burdens added to the telework situation. This is probably why it is men, and because of family situations, people without children, who best value the possibility of continuing to telework in the future, and also those who think it has more positive effects on their work. " More:
single-parent families,
which in Spain are made up in 83% of cases by a mother and her children, were the profile where telework had
"a more negative assessment."
Because, yes: all the studies carried out on teleworking and gender reveal that teleworking women with children in their care are the ones who bear most of the stress generated by the situation.
Alone or accompanied, for them, as a general rule, teleworking
also
means
assuming a
greater burden of domestic work and care.
And why, if they are also at home?
Well, because we continue to
suspend
co-
responsibility.
This is confirmed by the data.
A survey of 4,400 workers by the CSIF union and the National Commission for the Rationalization of Spanish Hours found that
for 7 out of 10 workers teleworking has not improved the distribution of domestic tasks.
Hence, equality experts have sounded the alarm.
In the recent presentation of the second
Equality Observatory
promoted by
Adecco
, it was warned about the danger that teleworking displaces the flexibility plans of companies, is taken as a conciliation measure (since, of course, you are working and at the same time babysitting and scrubbing the floor, the logic is overwhelming) and displaces women into homes, again separating them from career paths.
In fact,
81% of the respondents to
the CSIF study believed that those who telecommute do not have the same
opportunities
as those who go to the office to
promote
.
AND THE COMPANIES, WHAT DO THEY THINK?
What the (Spanish) companies think en masse is that "if I don't see you, I don't believe you", come on, that the workers will have to return yes or yes in September to work in person. And this, despite the stalking of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, which is not to be taken as a joke, far from it.
In fact, there are those who are very clear that it would be foolish to fill the offices again in September: "In a recent interview I had with a large pharmaceutical company, its director of Human Resources reminded me that
we are in a pandemic,"
explains Marisa Cruzado , "That is why your organization is going to maintain teleworking for 100% of the workers and 100% of the time, since they consider it premature to take measures in the face of an uncertain future. They are focused on
adding value to the teleworking employee,
improving the conditions of the office in their homes, training them in matters of ergonomics or time management, improving their work time control systems and of course, developing activities that improve their physical and emotional well-being ".It gives food for thought.
When it comes to the
dog
, many of those who got hold of one in the last year and have lived close to it almost 24 hours a day may have to face the long ordeal of
separation anxiety.
Recommendation: be patient and buy a
Kong
, like me.
You are going to need it.
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