After a year of working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies and employees are having to ask themselves, “Do we go back into the office?” With effective work-from-home tools such as instant messaging, and video-calling, full-time in office jobs could be a thing of the past.
Jobseekers now have to make the decision do they want to return to in-person work, or seek out roles that offer a more flexible remote-schedule. Not to at least consider that as an option could cause companies to lose out on talent. More and more job postings are highlighting work from home opportunities, and even LinkedIn has added an option for job-seeking candidates to indicate they are searching for a remote role.
Prior to 2020, it was not uncommon for companies to pass on ideal candidates due to location restrictions, only to be forced to reconsider in the wake of the pandemic, to find out not only is it possible, but can elevate their talent. As Chemical Recruiters, we have seen it first hand with clients that had originally been against the idea of an employee not coming into the office to work daily, but have since come back with evolved ideas of remote work due to the pandemic.
Offices are also adjusting to reflect these changing times, having multi-use work stations instead of individual desks; designed to accommodate intermittent in-office collaborations instead of day in and day out, full-time work.
Whether remote work caused your business to flourish or flounder during the past year, the great thing is it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Offering a few days a week remote work, could even be a game changer in attracting candidates.
-Written by Lindsay Schaaf: Director of Research for Specialty Chemical Recruiters