Lockdown laziness!!

With the pandemic and its challenges, we saw rampant change in the way we work, the workplace and our workforce. To ensure that businesses weren't disrupted, we witnessed organisations who changed their policies affecting these three aspects of the work environment. While some organisations announced work from home for life, a few others announced longer schedules of working from home and a few more decided to quickly try and launch hybrid working models.

People began to appreciate the nimbleness of organisations in adapting quickly to the changing requirements that this pandemic posed to all of us. However over the last twenty two months, we have also seen how our daily routines have changed to an extent that it seems difficult for many to return to pre-pandemic schedules.

All of a sudden, people are seeing challenges in managing their personal schedules alongside work when they are being asked to return to work. Home chores of the past is now become an official excuse not to be present at work in person. Tasks like taking care of children, walking the dog, time to drop off a senior family member, have all become official reasons for not wanting to work from office.

Is this something that you have also been witnessing?

Extra savings: The pandemic for most people has resulted in extra savings due to lesser spends on travel and also entertainment. Further, limited spending on wardrobes, etc, due to working from home has resulted in more savings than before.

Purpose of life: Gen Z and Millennials are now looking forward to jobs which allows permanent work from home because of aligning their goals with their purpose of life. They want to move on to something more meaningful which aligns with their character. Working from home has offered them the flexibility to balance their professional and personal life.

Quality Family time: People have more time to take care of their personal needs, while working from home. They can pick and drop off their children to school, shop for their immediate family needs and at the same time answer their official tasks.

Lockdown laziness!

With all of the above ground realities, employers are now battling with what I call "Lockdown laziness". Employees are hesitant at reverting to pre-pandemic days of working from office, even if it were for a few days in a week / month. They see it as a compromise of their own standards on work and are unable to re adjust to earlier days.

Companies are being pressurized to coerce their employees by having many motivational programs and policies. Great welcomes with music, anthems, videos and games are part of the return to work roll out. All of this and more is to gain the confidence of the employees and to help in bringing back the camaraderie. While business outlook seems very bright and promising, it seems like Lockdown Laziness may cost us our future.

It's time we wake up to reality and to remember that it was not so long ago that many of us were in dire straits of either having lost our jobs, loved ones or even having practiced a conservative life just to take care of our needs for the future.

Hybrid working definitely looks imminent now and it's in our interest that we all join hands to make this new normal, work. Just as we adapted to the change of working form anywhere, when the pandemic hit us, let us once again adapt to getting back to office amidst the new hybrid working model.

Let's not cut our nose to spite our face. After all, a hybrid job at hand is better than having no job at all.