The pandemic has forced Americans to work from home, and employers are struggling to get them back to the office.

And for good reason. Short holidays, maternity leave sometimes non-existent...: "These practices to which workers were accustomed in the United States are disrupted since the pandemic," explained to AFP Nela Richardson, chief economist of ADP, a provider of personnel management services to companies.

U.S. offices are on average half empty compared to February 2020, according to data from Kastle, which manages entry badges for 40,000 companies nationwide.

With strong disparities: offices in Silicon Valley, California, have found only a third of their occupants, compared to half in New York or Washington, or even two-thirds in Houston and Austin, Texas.

Amazon employees even demonstrated on May 31 in front of the group's headquarters in Seattle to protest, among other things, against the recent requirement to return to the office three days a week.

"The world is changing and Amazon must embrace the new reality of working, remote and flexible," the organizers said in a statement, also citing an issue of equity, especially towards women and workers of color or disabled.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in February that "working together and inventing is easier and more efficient (...) in person".

Elon Musk, boss of Tesla and owner of Twitter, has banned teleworking outright, in the name of productivity and "morality": according to him, employees would like "the worker (goes) to the factory, the chef to the restaurant to deliver food, but not them!"

Half-empty offices

A third of employees in the United States can work from wherever they want, compared to just 18% in France, according to an ADP study published in mid-April and conducted last fall in 17 countries.

An office building in Washington, May 24, 2023 © ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP

"An employer who imposes five days a week (at the office, editor's note), it would simply not be an option for me," said Claire, a consultant who lives in Washington and does not want to give her last name for professional reasons.

This thirty-year-old goes to the office irregularly, once every two weeks, sometimes more often. And does not see himself going back.

She has replaced the subway with a walk in the neighborhood, no longer wastes time dressing up every morning, settles outside with the computer at the slightest ray of sunshine, no longer runs in the evening to fill the fridge ... And do not regret the office too air-conditioned.

He certainly misses conversations with colleagues "a little", but these "informal discussions clearly make it less productive".

Isn't she afraid of missing out on a career advancement opportunity? "If I came to the office to show that I was in the office, and I got a promotion" which would then involve a full-time presence... "This is not the life I want!"

"Challenge"

Some executives recognize advances related to remote work. "Questions of quality and effectiveness of lifestyle have emerged," said Gayle Smith, CEO of the Washington-based NGO One, with several offices around the world.

Amy Whetzel works aboard her boat docked in Mayo, Maryland, May 25, 2023 © ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP

"Raising children is a bit easier if you don't have to commute every morning," she told AFP.

Some of its employees have even left the Washington area to "be closer to aging parents" or follow the transfer of a spouse.

She does not see a decrease in efficiency, but regrets the "positive" dynamic of working in person. The equation is now to find this emulation, while perpetuating these improvements on lifestyles.

For companies, "it's a very difficult challenge because it's changed people's lives and the way they work," Smith said.

Thus, teleworking is now "part of a set of benefits and options that companies can choose to offer workers," says Nela Richardson.

On the employee side, "the question is whether they are willing to sacrifice career or salary progression to be completely remote," she adds.

But, explains the economist, for employees, "it's not necessarily +I want to work from home, surrounded by dirty dishes and unmade beds+", but rather "I want to choose my working hours".

© 2023 AFP