Another big tech company is pushing for its workers to return to their commute, with the new Lyft CEO informing employees that they must be back in the office at least three days a week starting this fall.
The tech industry is going through it right now. With mass layoffs occurring on what feels like a daily basis and the economic downturn causing CEOs to take pay cuts, the once-stable industry continues to fall on harder and harder times.
Now, the new CEO at Lyft is kicking things off with a bang by making some big changings, including getting rid of the company’s full flexible work policy.
Lyft Ditches Fully Flexible Work Policy
In March 2022, two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, Lyft announced that it would continue to offer its fully flexible work policy to accommodate employee needs. However, a new CEO took over at the rideshare company last week, and he’s decided that this policy is no longer going to work.
As for why, the Lyft CEO parroted a common line among executives trying to get workers back in the office.
“Things just move faster when you’re face to face. There’s a real feeling of satisfaction that comes from working together at a whiteboard on a problem.” – David Risher, new Lyft CEO to the New York Times
The news comes after Lyft laid off 1,200 employees earlier this month.
Why Do Tech Companies Want Employees Back in the Office?
If you’ve been paying attention to the tech industry over the last few months, you’ve likely noticed a trend of CEOs forcing employees back in the office.
Many insist that the reason for these changes are in service of collaboration and company culture, but experts have another theory.
“When top executives feel financial stress, the classic ‘threat-rigidity’ effect kicks in, and beyond possible benefits for communication, collaboration and creativity, they feel compelled to increase their own illusion of control.” – Bob Sutton, a psychology professor at Stanford
The reality is that CEOs aren’t basing these return-to-office policies on statistics, with numbers showing that the remote work boom has actually been quite a boon for productivity.
Should You Force Your Employees Back Into the Office?
The economic downturn has you worried about productivity and all these tech CEOs are forcing their employees back into the office, so why wouldn’t you? Well, for one, remote work statistics show that remote work is actually better for productivity and will help you retain and attract the best employees.
In addition, businesses experienced a 22% productivity boost when instituting a hybrid work model, with 30% of employees getting more work done in less time while working from home. On top of that, flexible schedules remain one of the best attractors of top talent and remote work can save your business up to $11,000 per year due to increased productivity, cheaper real estate costs, and reduced absenteeism and turnover.
Suffice to say, the return-to-office movement is not a blueprint for how your small business should treat its employees. If you want to keep productivity up and employees happy, hybrid work models appear to be the way to go.
