Luncheon vouchers and a tea trolly

A dilemma for the big orgs out there is how to get people back into their offices without forcing them. There’s a bit of an awkward gap between what employers are hoping for and want staff want.

In June the Office for National Statistics stated that 36% of those working from home thought they’d spend most or all of their time working remotely in future, whereas nearly 40% of businesses expect 75% of their workforce to return to the workplace.

It’s going to take a lot more than free coffee and a cycle to work scheme to bridge that gap.

It’s funny to think that we used to be wowed by a ping pong table and company beer. Now it’s puppy parties, meditative gong baths and free Telsas. And that’s just Monday.

Poor old Neflix has had to up its offering from unlimited holidays to letting people choose the hours they work.

What’s next? Free orgies? Already been done.

Back in olden times the relationship between employer and employee was dramatically different. You’d generally be grateful for getting a foot in the door; you’d carefully climb the ladder, minding your Ps and Qs, and occasionally invite the boss to dinner.

The companies are now the ones doing the grovelling. This was happening before the pandemic, but things have changed. Having a laundrette, dentist and nursery on site might have once seemed like a very nice perk, but that doesn’t look so valuable now you can do that at your convenience at home and work too.

Now that stuff looks a little creepy.

After 18 months of surprisingly productive working from home there’s an obvious question – why didn’t you trust me to do this before? Was the laundrette just to keep me at my desk for as long as possible?

Now that workers have tasted the forbidden fruit, they value something else. Flexibility, trust and respect. That’s worth a lifetime of luncheon vouchers.