Time to admit remote work’s perks

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/12/2023 (881 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With the new year around the corner, some Manitoba workers may be weighing their options as remote work opportunities are ending and return-to-office mandates are in the future. Manitoba Public Insurance employees, for example, have been told that they must return to their offices at the end of February, at least part time.

A study published by University of Manitoba economists Guillermo Gallacher and Iqbal Hossain at the start of the pandemic determined that about 41 per cent of jobs in Canada could be performed remotely. They also determined that the higher the pay, the more likely it was that the job could be done while working from home.

There’s been a backlash to the return to office work. Many don’t understand the necessity of a return to the office when work can be done just as efficiently from home, while achieving an important work/life balance. Workers suggest that they feel more productive and report higher levels of wellness, according to some studies.

Women have suggested that working remotely allows for flexibility when dealing with childcare responsibilities. For persons with disabilities, non-standardized working hours provided personal control and productivity.

There was the additional environmental aspect as well. Fewer workers commuting means less traffic on the city streets and reduced pollution. Also, working from anywhere makes finding cheaper residential options easier, particularly in hot markets like Toronto and Vancouver.

Maybe instead of debating which is better, 2024 should be the year that the toxicity of the modern workplace is finally addressed, because there seems to be an underlying problem. And with that problem, there’s a structural inequality for those who are allowed to continue to work from home, and those who must return to the office.

Consider this. According to a U.K. study, women and racialized workers are more likely than men to prefer working from home because by doing so they are less likely to face discriminatory attitudes and microaggressions. It seems the workplaces continues to be toxic for racialized minorities and women (and I would argue disabled persons, although the study doesn’t cite them).

Perhaps that’s not surprising. Recall that the pandemic sparked the “Great Resignation” for many workers, with labour force participation rebounding in Canada in 2022 to pre-COVID numbers. For those dissatisfied with a toxic workplace they had to face pre-pandemic, new job opportunities were suddenly available.

Now companies may have to shift priorities to retention and attracting new talent. The upshot has been addressing diversity and inclusion issues in hiring practices. Whether it’s having any real success or whether it’s lip service remains to be seen. But it certainly suggests corporations are aware of the issue.

The continued inequalities in caregiving responsibilities for women means that they are hit with a double whammy in terms of remote working. First, they are isolated at home, cut off from the opportunities to potentially form alliances with those who may be in positions to promote in the future or to make recommendations for job growth.

Think of working from the office as the proverbial golf course of the aughts, when decisions got made on the greens and in the clubhouse that left out many women and minorities. The same now can be said of working from the office where it’s who you know as much as what you know that gets you into the door of career advancement.

Additionally, remote workers are perceived by management and peers who work from the office as less than serious. The office worker is idealized and in the longer term that translates into promotion. If women are working from home because childcare makes it impossible to do otherwise, there are gender disparities that need to be addressed not papered over with work arrangements.

Workplaces should be flexible and allow for women to work from home without penalty when required. But unions would do well to address these issues in their contract wording, to ensure that unintended consequences that diminish women’s career advances are allowed to continue.

The solution provided by MPI for workers to return is a flexible one — for now. It’s a hybrid model that allows the employees to work three days in the office one week and two days the next week and it’s similar to other models adopted by other Crown corporations in Manitoba. But these could change and when and if they do, the underlying issues that made working from home enticing should be acknowledged. It’s time for unions and managers to sink their teeth into what will retain and attract workers in the long run.

Shannon Sampert is happily returning to the office after four years of remote work. She begins teaching at RRC Polytech in January. She was the politics and perspectives editor at the Free Press from 2014-17.

shannon@mediadiva.ca