Tackling the energy crisis with Hybrid Work & Desk Sharing
Saving is the order of the day! In order to prepare for the winter, private households and the economy are to save energy properly in order to fill the gas storage tanks until the winter. That's because a gas crisis is expected for the end of the year, which could cripple parts of the economy. The temporary solution seems to be to shut down offices and send employees back to the home office. Hybrid work and desk sharing not only optimize office space and reduce heating costs, but also provide employees with a flexible working model.
Key facts
Reduce energy consumption
It is not only climate change that is prompting consumers and companies to rethink and save energy, but also the current crisis surrounding fossil raw materials in connection with the Ukraine conflict. At the moment, there are desperate attempts to fill gas storage facilities until the onset of winter so that a?supply bottleneck?can be avoided. Although this has worked well so far, experts warn of a shortage of gas for heating.?
Due to the already increased energy and gas prices, many consumers are already trying to save resources in the private sector. At the moment, for example, the German Federal Ministry of Economics is trying to encourage people to save by launching a large-scale campaign. After all, low energy and water consumption can also save energy and reduce costs.
Companies should also save energy
The energy crisis will probably reach its peak in the winter. That's why companies should also draw up a plan by then on how they can reduce costs and consumption. After all, the potential for savings is particularly high in offices. The first step has already been taken: public buildings and facilities are to be heated to a room temperature of just 19 degrees. This is because many offices or entire complexes consist of large rooms that are?not?heated in?an energy-efficient manner. To reduce consumption, a new?home office obligation?is now being considered. To this end, employees should increasingly work at home - only this time not because of the pandemic, but to save resources.
The idea is to partially close offices entirely and heat them at a minimum temperature in order to reduce energy consumption. According to one estimate, this could save?around 5% of Germany's energy consumption. Whether this obligation will come, however, remains to be seen.?
What are the benefits of the home office during the gas crisis?
Closing entire offices can make sense. Especially open-plan offices or entire complexes are either not properly insulated or have very high energy consumption to heat the huge areas. Compared to their surface area, the electricity consumption here is much higher than in private households. But to achieve a remarkable effect,?at least 50% of?companies would have to enforce home offices.
But the new discussion about a compulsory home office goes beyond that: If employees were to work at home more often again, this would in turn have an impact on traffic. Fewer commuters would not only?reduce emissions, but also cut down on parts of the public transport system, especially in conurbations. This would in turn save additional resources. In this way, almost 3.7 million tons of greenhouse gases could be saved.?
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Criticism of the idea
The discussion raises some critical questions. On the one hand, this measure reminds many employees of the beginning of the Corona pandemic and the isolation of work colleagues for months. Therefore, the will to return to the home office is not necessarily great.
Secondly, there is the concern that the additional energy costs incurred in the home office will be passed on to the employees. After all, home offices also incur?costs for electricity, gas and water. It remains to be seen whether there will be a government relief package or tax advantages.?
Are employees allowed to be sent to the home office for this purpose?
In principle, employees do not have to make their private homes available for work. During the pandemic, there was a home office obligation, but this only obliged companies to offer their employees the opportunity to work at home. The obligation was therefore very one-sided. However, there was no compulsion to accept this offer.?
Since the home office obligation has expired and has not yet been extended, a?new bill?would have to be created. This would have to be limited in time and guarantee that no coercion may emanate from employers.?
Compromise: Offer mobile work & optimize office space
In order to avoid this drastic step and above all to relieve employees, a compromise is being sought. One consideration, for example, is the introduction of more mobile workplaces. Companies should introduce an?alternating model?similar to the one used in the pandemic to avoid a lockdown.?
The concept involves reducing workplaces through a hybrid work model, thus preventing a complete shutdown of entire office complexes. In this way, one part of the workforce could continue to work in the office, the other in the home office. Regular rotation can create a flexible alternating model despite reduced floor space. Another option is to introduce?fixed presence days?on which the office space is heated. The rest of the week, the office is only partially heated or not heated at all.?
Use Seatti to introduce Hybrid Work
To create a concept for the coming winter, quick action is required. A hybrid model can be the first step to offer home office and on-site work at the same time. This offers employees the flexibility they need. This working model can be implemented particularly quickly with Seatti.?
Our booking management system integrates with your existing ecosystem like Microsoft Teams or Azure-AD in just a few steps. Our team digitizes your office and adapts it to your ideas. Individual floors can be assigned different permissions or excluded entirely. Employees can then perform?desk booking, book?parking spaces or meeting rooms, and plan their office day. And to keep your company's social life going, employees can use our Meetup dashboard and?location sharing?feature to meet up and spend the day.
Do you want to learn more about our tool? Click here to get in touch with us!
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