It’s time to come clean. Maybe it’s an age thing, a lack of imagination, a desperate void where my soul should be? I don’t know, but I just can’t see why anyone wants to spend their every working day quietly at home. During lockdown, I never bought an office chair or flat-pack desk — the front room is cluttered enough, thank you. There’s nothing wrong with my kitchen, but I don’t want to spend all day there. Give me people, chatter, movement and, sure, free snacks!
Mystifyingly, the opposite is true for many others. Globally, about one-quarter of mainly white-collar, higher-income workers would quit if told to return to the office five days a week, according to an international team of economists who’ve been gathering data since early in the pandemic. Seems kind of extreme to me: I don’t know many people who could take that much financial or career risk.
Regardless, the battle lines are being drawn, especially in banking where the biggest Wall Street names such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley are apparently demanding that staff get back to their desks after two years of playing nice. But this fight won’t be as fierce as it sounds. For one thing, labor markets probably aren’t as tight as headline employment data suggest, which means it’s already harder for staff to demand a better deal or jump ship if they don’t get it. On a more positive note, your boss very likely wants some flexibility, too.
Office avoiders in high finance may have the weakest hand...
MANILA (UPDATED) — The Chinese Embassy on Monday claimed that some Filipino politicians have “fabricated and spread a false narrative” about China’s alleged funding for an unnamed local political ...