Hybrid Work: Why Debates Continue

Headlines about tech giants Amazon and Google, and others, issuing return-to-office mandates have recently dominated the news as we all grapple with what a work environment means in today’s world, especially in the Tech industry. Question is why didn’t we, as an industry, just move forward with hybrid operations as the default work environment of the future? Why are we willing to go backward even though so much of the data currently points in a different direction, such as the following from a recent Gartner report*:

1. By 2025, less than 5% of desk workers will prefer to work from a corporate workplace full time, down from 17% in 2021.
2. By 2027, 80% of millennial workers will prefer to spend their time in various workplaces rather than full-time remote or full-time work from the office, up from 61% in 2021.

Over the next few months, we plan to explore many aspects of the hybrid work environment, why we believe it will evolve and why it is here to stay. Also, we will discuss and debate some of the common misconceptions as well as some real issues that remain unresolved.

The Pandemic, and Phases of Hybrid Work

Looking back at the last three years, you can divide what we have gone through in three phases:

• First phase of Covid-related shutdowns spanned from March 2020 to about September 2021, when most people were vaccinated.
• Second phase from September of 2021 to summer of 2022.
• Third phase from summer of 2022 to now.

In that first phase, we saw companies not only forcing employees to stay home, but also spending a lot of energy educating managers on what it meant to manage remote employees. Mind you, in the tech segment, we always have had the tools and ability to work remotely, but until March 2020 it was not a thing. But we transformed overnight and adopted remote operations better than any other industry, putting all the tools to their fullest use.

?In the second phase, most of us talked very bullishly about hybrid operations – how we were going to learn from the positives of working remotely (so recently learned) and combine those with in-office operations and make the best of it. I refer to this phase as the pivoting point for most companies. This is where either you made a commitment to hybrid or you didn’t…because if you didn’t, that third phase just got harder for you!

By the third phase, we find ourselves in chaos. Employers are backing off on their commitments to flexible work operations, employees are protesting, and it is as if we have all unlearned what we learned in the first phase.

WatchGuard’s Commitment to Flexibility

I would like to start by defining our hybrid work policy, which centers around employee flexibility. Flexibility, in our case, is truly a commitment between employee and the company. Employees (there are some exceptions, which I will mention below) have the option to work from home or office, with no mandatory days in either place, as long as they also acknowledge that their manager or peers might need them for in-person meetings and are willing to accommodate those needs. The company, in return, provides the physical facilities at our major locations as well as tools and support needed for remote operation. It is that simple. Common sense rules. And it works. We rely on the most basic human trait – people don’t like to disappoint each other; if you allow them flexibility, in return, they reward you with their best work.

We decided to adopt a flexible work policy very early during the pandemic; we did so with intention. What we realized then is that people were grappling with so many things already caused by the pandemic – mental stress was high enough for everyone – by announcing our flexible work environment as an ongoing policy that was here to stay allowed them to relax, and not be worried that they were going to be asked to change their work environment at a moment’s notice. It is not as if we haven’t debated policy changes since then, but every discussion starts with us reminding ourselves of the commitment we made and how that commitment can’t be changed.

?But there are exceptions. There are roles where flexibility is not an option, since they require in-person operation. Good example is our manufacturing and warehouse operation. That stellar team sacrificed a lot for the good of our customers through the pandemic and continues to operate in person. Also, we realized that since we operate globally, there are countries where either culturally or due to poor home office infrastructure, hybrid operation is not possible.

What’s Next in This Blog Series?

Defining a flexible work policy isn’t easy and I understand why some of the bigger companies have struggled with it. Almost everything you hear boils down to a debate that centers on three major topics: productivity, collaboration, and culture. None of those are easy to tackle as they are loaded with opinions, some based on data and some based on intuition, and heavily influenced by leadership of the company.? Over the next three blogs, we will tackle each of these individually, and share our experiences and opinions from outside as well.?

*Market Guide for Workplace Experience Applications by Tori Paulman, Janel Everly, Romita Datta Chaudhuri, Mujtaba Shamim

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