I have seen the unsurprising news about RTO mandates ramping-up, and this trend may even result in my own team experiencing mandatory Return-To-Office at some point. I have already heard about other legal firms in my space inching toward Hybrid days for their IT staff. Hybrid being a mix of one or two on-premises days, with an “anchor day” thrown in, and the rest of the workweek remote.
Ultimately the location where Knowledge Work is done had already long become a flexible thing for tech workers in some roles, years before Covid lockdowns came to increase awareness (and controversy). Where you work is of course up to the company you’re working for, and rank-and-file and tech staff like myself have no real say; however, the marketplace for IT jobs…lately it does have a say. For now, anyway. Even with the instability in tech jobs right now, I still see and hear about tech colleagues taking opportunities where fully-Remote Work was offered. Offering remote or WFH has become a very difficult perk to remove.
So with the above in mind, I thought I would list my own thoughts about Remote Work / Work From Home in 2023. I experienced a tripling in my own productivity, while also witnessing struggling from other co-workers at times. It’s a mixed-bag for some, but for many Information Tech Knowledge Workers, there’s an argument to be made for productivity gains (but it seems your average HR person only sees the risks). Let’s get into it…
The push to mandate a return-to-office policy (for IT and tech workers, anyway) is increasingly at odds with the realities of modern business and employee expectations. For decades, technology professionals have been tethered to physical offices, battling long commutes, distractions, and less-than-ideal working conditions. Same as everybody else in non-technical office jobs. But now, having experienced massive productivity gains, many tech staff have seen some of their best work getting done these past two and a half years. Even so, many of the same tech and IT staff are also seeing companies clawing-back their Remote Work policies.
I recall over the past decade deploying secure VPNs, Citrix and VDI solutions, and other tech only to see attorneys and the c-suite literally work remote for days (or wweeks) before major trials, team retreats, or other major focused activity. When it came to engineering and creating deliverables for major projects, myself, I was sometimes extended remote-work options. My most recent, before Covid, had been the One Manhattan West networking project I worked on. At no point could I have efficiently and quickly nailed my timelines that year, if I had to work at our main offices prior to each execution phase of that project.
When it comes to Tech and IT Knowledge Workers:
Remote Flexibility = Competitive Advantage
Remote work arrangements have long been proven to increase employee satisfaction, productivity, and work-life balance—factors. That was true before 2020. IT professionals such as network engineers, cloud architects, cybersecurity analysts, and even certain levels of helpdesk support staff can often operate at peak efficiency from anywhere with a stable internet connection. Similarly, systems administrators, software developers, and project managers routinely use collaboration tools, cloud platforms, and secure VPN connections that make the physical office essentially optional. They coordinate complex deployments, troubleshoot complex technical issues, and streamline workflows—all without having to sit in the same conference room.
Cost Savings and Talent Pool Expansion
A remote-capable workforce can substantially reduce an organization’s operational expenses. When on-prem hardware technicians—who must maintain physical equipment—are supported by remote systems architects and engineers, the company can maintain a smaller on-site footprint. Beyond cost considerations, hiring remotely means there is no need to restrict talent searches to the immediate vicinity of the company’s headquarters. Instead, businesses can tap into global talent pools, benefiting from professionals with specialized skills that might not exist in a limited geographic area.
Attracting and Retaining Top Talent
Mandating a full return to the office, without any hybrid option for your best players, risks alienating the best and brightest in your team. The IT industry is fiercely competitive, and top professionals have options. Many senior engineers and cloud experts prefer environments that trust them to manage their own time. If forced to come back to an office for no productivity-related reason, they are more likely to leave for an employer that offers more flexibility. Consider this scenario: A highly skilled network security engineer, valued for her rare skill set, might be commuting 14 miles into a city center. During peak rush hour, that 14-mile drive can take two grueling hours—each way. That’s four hours a day spent sitting in traffic. Over the course of a week, that’s nearly a full extra workday wasted in a car, contributing nothing to her productivity or the company’s bottom line. Such lost time prompts key contributors to rethink whether the commute is worth it. Often, it’s not—and they go where flexibility is considered an asset rather than a grudging concession.
Real-World Productivity Costs of Mandatory RTO
Teams forced back to the office often face unseen morale and productivity losses. Employees who resent the commute and the rigid structure are less likely to linger after traditional working hours. Take the helpdesk staff who, while remote, might respond to a late request or urgent ticket a bit beyond their official end-of-day simply because they are already at home and there is no psychological barrier to helping out. By contrast, when mandated to be on-site, the same employees often pack up and leave the moment the clock hits quitting time. They’ve already spent time commuting, and they’re determined not to lose another hour of personal life. The result is a further erosion of flexibility and productivity that once benefited the organization.
Hybrid Models for the Best of Both Worlds
Not all IT jobs are the same, so not all IT jobs are suited for full-time remote work. Certain technician roles must interact physically with hardware and end-users, and even systems architects and engineers like myself must interact with networking, storage, or other infra sometimes. Yet even these jobs can often be structured as a hybrid model – it only requires task-management and planning to handle hands-on tasks, dividing what taskwork can be worked on remotely. We’re all adults, and I hope employers don’t simply rollback Remote or Hybrid work offerings without giving it some thought. By acknowledging that not all IT roles are identical, and granting flexibility where possible, it allows companies to essentially offer a nearly zero-cost perk for tech Knowledge Workers on their staff. Leading to stronger job satisfaction, reduced turnover, and sustained productivity gains.
I wholly admit I am not a work culture expert or know much about HR teams dealing with this. But I do know a thing or two about office politics, and I have already heard about some hot sports opinions from colleages at other IT job environments. Usually these hot sports opinions are thrown HR’s way by staff that already had to Return-to-Office last year. All it takes are those staff to be joined by a VIP in the C-Suite, and here comes another news cycle of RTO coverage. I can see how many companies will throw their hands in the air and execute non-Hybrid mandatory RTO, to please a few. It’s human nature, after all. Still others may rework things into required on premises days, with hybrid remote days. Either way, a major shift is underway, and corporate real estate seems to be a major part of it. We’ll see how it goes!
At any rate, I enjoy the benefits of Remote Work currently, in my enterprise IT role, and with my own 1.5 to 2-hour commute to work…I have understandably have a specific point of view here.
My advice to companies struggling with RTO, and entertaining the idea removing Remote or Hybrid for your IT staff entirely:
Focus on outcomes & accountability, NOT OFFICE BADGE SWIPES.