Category: Employment

Categories
Employment Pandemic

Quiet Quitting

“Quiet quitting” was declared the phrase of 2022 according to an article published for Morning Brew which said the phrase “simply means not going above and beyond at work, or performing the responsibilities laid out in your job description and nothing more” (Merritt).

I included the phrase in the Covid Lexicon as it went viral in August that year after TikTok creator Zaiad Khan shared a video about “quiet quitting” where he says “you’re not outright quitting your job, but you’re quitting the idea of going above and beyond.” You can watch the video here and below.

@zaidleppelin

On quiet quitting #workreform

♬ i thought you wanted to dance – ruby

Why did the phrase have so much impact in 2022? The article mentioned above answers that question:

After two years in a global pandemic, constant rumors of an upcoming recession, and yogurt costing more than it ever has, it makes sense that people might be rejecting “hustle culture” and are now just a little less focused on replying to emails.

Merritt

An article that appeared on CBS News said that quiet quitting is “partly a byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic, when millions of workers lost their jobs as the disease shuttered the economy. Although most have found new jobs or been rehired, the nation’s workforce remains smaller than prior to the health crisis. That is putting more strain on existing employees, who are often asked to do more for the same pay” (Picchi).

@1corporatemillennial

for legal purposes, this is a joke. Ib: @Krian Bearney #corporatemillennial #millennialsoftiktok #corporateamerica #corporate #wfh #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #foryoupage #workhumor #workfromhome #wfhlife #9to5 #workfromhomehumor #relatable #9to5life

♬ sweetest Pie with wink – blair hynds

The Roundtable YouTube channel recently uploaded a discussion about the concept of quiet quitting and how TikTok creator Zaidleppelin made the phrase go viral in 2022. You can watch it below or here.

courtesy of desperate_meme_2

Social Media Trends as of February 12, 2023

Facebook #quietquitting: people are posting about this
Instagram #quietquitting: 18,064 posts
TikTok #quietquitting: 454,100,000 views
YouTube #quietquitting: 1,900 videos and 1,110 channels

Google Trends: “quiet quitting” first appeared during the first week of July 2022 when TikTok creator Zaidleppelin introduced the concept of Quiet Quitting that quickly went viral. According to a survey conducted by YorkTest, searches on Google for the phrase increased by 18,000% the following month which you can see in the chart below (Open Access Government).

quiet quitting search term

Sources:

desperate_meme_2. “Invented ‘Quiet quitting’ before it was cool” meme. iFunny. August 31, 2022. URL: https://br.ifunny.co/picture/invented-quiet-quitting-befor-it-was-cool-UwuTyoxp9.

Elly | Corporate Millennial. “DAILY WFH RECAP.” TikTok. May 19, 2022. URL: https://www.tiktok.com/@1corporatemillennial/video/7099570805096320298?lang=en.

Merritt, Matty. “2022 Phrase of the Year: ;Quiet quitting.’” Morning Brew. December 20, 2022. URL: https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/stories/phrase-of-the-year-quiet-quitting.

Picchi, Aimee. “‘Quiet quitting’: A revolution in how we work or the end of working hard?” CBS News. August 24, 2022. URL: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-is-quiet-quitting/.

Roundtable YouTube channel. “Was 2022 the year of quiet quitting?” YouTube. 17 January 2023. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ1RFQQS21M.

“What is “quiet quitting” and how is burnout affecting the UK?.” Open Access Government.. October 21, 2022. URL: https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/what-is-quiet-quitting-and-how-is-burnout-affecting-the-uk/146339/.

zaidleppelin. “On quiet quitting.” TikTok. July 25, 2022. URL: https://www.tiktok.com/@zaidleppelin/video/7124414185282391342?lang=en.

Categories
Employment Pandemic

Workcation

Happy new year readers! Let’s hope that the pandemic can be defeated and put behind us. Today’s word, although not new, is workcation and is a portmanteau of the words “work” and “vacation” and refers to working remotely while enjoying the benefits of vacationing. For example, you might be on a business trip for a few days and want to check out the local sites of interest.

An article published for HelloLanding.com on August 1, 2022 explains what a workcation is, the benefits of taking one and how to plan your nomadic workcation getaway:

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, there has been a huge increase in people working remotely. While some have waved goodbye to office life in favor of being a full-time digital nomad, others have preferred to work from home, allowing them to spend more time with their families and achieve a better work-life balance.

This new trend of working remotely has led to the rise of the “workcation” (also spelled “workation”), a concept that combines work and travel. The two terms might seem contradictory at first, but people are beginning to find that taking a workcation allows them to destress, recharge, and explore a new place without falling behind on their workload.

A workcation might last for a couple of days, weeks, or even months—basically, it can be whatever you want it to be! You’re still expected to get all of your work done as normal, but rather than working from home or the office, you can bring your laptop to the pool, a coworking space, or even the beach (just be mindful of the sand!).

While workcations aren’t necessarily a new concept, the rise of remote work has led more and more people to realize that a hotel room or vacation rental apartment is just as good as their living room for getting a day’s work done.

Danielle Leigh

Workcations can have their disadvantages. For starters, there is too much temptation to just enjoy the “vacation” part of workcation and not do the work. With remote working, the lines between our personal and business lives are already blurred. It is not uncommon to feel pressured to respond to emails and deadlines outside of working hours. Rewire.org, a non-profit journalism website, said that “white collar workers specifically are under constant pressure to be available at a moment’s notice, and the notifications – from email, Slack, Google Chat, and others – are seemingly endless. The pandemic has only exacerbated this trend: for the 42 percent of the American workforce that has been working from home for the past 12 to 18 months, there is no longer any physical separation between life and work” (Banks). There is a balance to be achieved to make a workcation “work.”

@1corporatemillennial

Don’t fall behind this summer! @RingCentral can help your business run from wherever you are. #corporatemillennial #RingCentralPartner #millennialsoftiktok #corporateamerica #corporatehumor #corporatejokes #RingCentral #wfh #remotework #remoteworkers #workfromhome #wfhlife #relatable

♬ original sound – They Call Me Locksmith
courtesy of Memecreator

Social Media Trends as of January 8, 2023

Facebook #workcation: 23,000 people are posting about this
Instagram #workcation: 176,481 posts
TikTok #workcation: 11,300,000 views
YouTube #workcation: 851 videos and 273 channels

Google Trends: workcation first appeared in 2004 but since the pandemic the popularity of the term has increased due to the high number of people who were able to remote work.

workcation search term

Sources:

Banks, Emma. The Rise of the ‘Workcation’ — and What It Means for the Future of Work.” Rewire.org. June 22, 2021. URL: https://www.rewire.org/rise-of-the-workcation/.

Elly | Corporate Millennial. “POV: Remote workers who use RingCentral & can work from anywhere.” TikTok. June 15, 2022. URL: https://www.tiktok.com/@1corporatemillennial/video/7109478556916256043?embed_source=121331973%2C120811592%2C120810756%3Bnull%3Bembed_name&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&refer=embed&referer_url=covidlexicon.net%2F&referer_video_id=7047542286145834287.

Leigh, Daniel. “What Is a Workcation? The Travel Trend Taking the World by Storm.” HelloLanding.com. August 1, 2022. URL: https://www.hellolanding.com/blog/what-is-a-workcation-the-travel-trend-taking-the-world-by-storm/#:~:text=Simply%20put%2C%20a%20workcation%20is,you%20want%20it%20to%20be!.

“Workcation be like” meme. Memecreator.com. URL: https://www.memecreator.org/meme/workation-be-like/.

Categories
Employment Pandemic

Hot desking

The term “hot desking” (also known as office hoteling) has been around for a while and refers to a workplace practice of having multiple employees using a single desk or workplace station during different rotating work schedules instead of each employee having their own desk and/or cubicle. Prior to the pandemic, hot desking was an efficient way of using minimal office space due to the cost savings and this was especially true in large cities where the cost of commercial real estate was high.

Hot desking became more prevalent during the pandemic when remote workers were called back to the office a few days a week. Companies could save money using this practice by having a few shared offices that accommodated their employees’ hybrid work schedules while saving money and resources not having to pay for unused office space.

There are advantages and disadvantages to hot desking as Anne Quito writes about in an article for QZ.com:

I’m writing this from a “hot desk,” and it’s leaving me feeling a bit cold. Like many companies that have reopened their offices after the pandemic, Quartz has adopted a shared workstation system, and new procedures to promote health and safety. Social distanced and sanitized, my desk feels like a surface where no variant of SARS-CoV-2 could thrive. But it’s also wiped away the thrill of having been assigned a small parcel of office real estate, an emblem of belonging somewhere, of being part of a staff.

Experts like Philip Ross, CEO of the management consulting firm UnWork, say that “hot desking” is the solution for the post-Covid office. He predicts that companies will need 60% less office space due to the popularity of hybrid work arrangements. Even before Covid-19, many companies have adopted a hot desk system, also known as “office hoteling.”

I asked CEO Knud Erik Hansen what he thought about the post-pandemic rage for hot desks. He shared my lament. “It is sad,” he says. “It’s a sign of belonging to a company. It’s part of our culture that you have a chair, a table, and an area where you can develop your work. When that disappears, I wonder if your loyalty to the company might disappear too.”

Jenn of CareersByJenn discusses what Hot Desking is, how it works and the advantages this workplace practice offers.

courtesy of MakeAMeme

Social Media Trends as of November 25, 2022

Facebook #hotdesking: 2,400 people are posting about this
Instagram #hotdesking: 26,189 posts
TikTok #hotdesking: 245,800 views
YouTube #hotdesking: less than 100 videos and channels

Google Trends: “hot desking” has been around for some time but the phrase peaked during the week of January 16, 2022 when many companies were implementing this practice to accommodate their hybrid workers.

hot desking search term

Sources:

CareersByJen channel. “Hot-Desking: Is it the New Future of the Workplace?” YouTube. Jan 26, 2022. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xywrv9TjPzE.

“Hot desk” meme. MakeAMeme. URL: https://makeameme.org/meme/ummm-yeh-im.

Quito, Anne. “Beware the chilling effects of hot desking.” Qz.com. Nov 8, 2022. URL: https://qz.com/work/2028302/hot-desks-in-a-post-pandemic-office.

Categories
Employment Pandemic

Hero Pay

Many low paid essential employees receive “hero pay” during the pandemic and especially during periods of lockdown in appreciation for putting themselves at risk of catching Covid-19 whilst serving the public. Also known as “hazard pay,” many grocery store workers receive a couple of extra dollars per hour on top of their hourly pay. Most of these workers were already receiving less than minimum wage and so “hero pay” gave them a significant bump up in their wages. ShopRite, Stop & Shop, CVS, Amazon and other retail locations all gave their employees a bump in their hourly pay and most of these increase were instituted in March 2020.

Hero pay was sometimes referred to as Emergency Sick Pay and Compensation. On March 23, 2020 a Facebook post from ShopRite of Upper Deerfield in New Jersey said: “Our associates are going above and beyond in the face of the COVID-19 emergency. To show our support, we have implemented an Emergency Sick Pay and Compensation Program, that includes a $2 per hour increase in their wages at the following Bottino Supermarkets stores: ShopRite of Delsea-Vineland, ShopRite of Millville, ShopRite of Upper Deerfield and ShopRite of Washington Township.”

Recognizing that grocery store workers faced a much higher risk of infection and death from Covid-19 the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union which represents over 1.3 million workers announced an agreement with ShopRite that would give 50,000 union employees hazard pay across locations in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York:

The deal recognizes the ongoing risks ShopRite workers have faced as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, and provides retroactive hazard pay ahead of the holiday season that covers all hours worked between July 26 and August 22…UFCW confirmed this week that there have been at least 109 grocery worker deaths and over 48,000 grocery workers infected or exposed since the pandemic began. 

UFCW International President Marc Perrone released the following statement: “Grocery workers have been on the frontlines since this pandemic began and continue to put themselves in harm’s way to help families put food on this Thanksgiving. This new UFCW agreement is a powerful victory for ShopRite grocery workers across New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut.”

UFCW

The extra money that these essential frontline workers enjoyed did not last. Once lockdown restrictions and mandates began to be lifted, grocery and retail stores ended hero pay. Radio station NJ1015 reported on July 15, 2020 that Stop & Shop was the latest grocery store to end “hero pay” for its employees. Many grocery stores extended this program through the months of April and May 2020:

Albertsons Companies, which owns Acme supermarkets, also offered a temporary $2 a hour increase for all non-union and union employees from March 20 to May 2.

Wegmans provided employees an additional $2 an hour at the height of the pandemic during the months of March, April and May.

As reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Whole Foods workers received an additional $2 an hour for as least some of the spring, but that program ended June 1.

ShopRite continues to provide store employees “temporary emergency premium pay” of $2 per hour, also instituted March 22 as the public health crisis first gripped the state.

“As non-essential businesses start to reopen, we have begun the process of transitioning to pre-COVID-19 wages. We will discontinue the emergency premium pay effective August 2,” according to Karen O’Shea, spokeswoman for ShopRite parent company Wakefern.

Vogt

The Today Show ran a segment discussing how thousands of grocery store and other retail workers will see their paychecks get smaller as hero pay comes to an end.

Some “hero pay” raises had unintended effects. Legislation passed in California which implemented $4 or $5 hourly raises for grocery workers caused some grocery stores to close their doors. On March 12, 2021 an article published on Reason.com said that “Kroger has announced that it will be closing three stores in Los Angeles as a result of the county’s new hazard pay law” (Britschgi).

We are grateful to all the heros who went to work at their own risk to provide us with the things we need.

Social Media Trends as of November 24, 2022

Facebook #heropay: people are posting about this
Instagram #heropay: 465 posts
TikTok #heropay: 50,900 views

Google Trends: “hero pay” first appeared during the end of March 2020 as grocery and retail stores started paying their workers hazard pay in appreciation and acknowledgement of the risks they took to provide the public with essential items and services.

hero pay search term

Sources:

Britschgi, Christian. “‘Hero Pay’ Requirement for Grocery Workers Results in Unemployed Heroes.” Reason.com. March 12, 2021. URL: https://reason.com/2021/03/12/hero-pay-requirement-for-grocery-workers-results-in-unemployed-heroes/#:~:text=Berkeley%2C%20Oakland%2C%20and%20San%20Francisco,an%20hour%20during%20the%20pandemic.

Emergency Sick Pay and Compensation Program. ShopRite of Upper Deerfield (NJ). Facebook. 23 March 2020. URL: https://www.facebook.com/ShopRite.UpperDeerfield/photos/a.901182593305461/2856153904474977/?paipv=0&eav=AfZrvYte-JEfUZXtkLRvYv5G6wKFST96ONJc_whPgY2qSnIC4tAmLK4NBGKH9NypHLY&_rdr,

“Hero Pay” meme. MakeAMeme. URL: https://makeameme.org/meme/hes-probably-thinking-386813f91f.

Today channel. “Thousands Of Grocery Store Workers Are About To Lose ‘Hero’ Pay.” YouTube. 2020. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF60efCHps4.

“UFCW Announces COVID-19 Hazard Pay Deal for ShopRite Grocery Workers in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut As Pandemic Continues.” United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. Nov 25, 2020. URL: https://www.ufcw.org/press-releases/ufcw-announces-covid-19-hazard-pay-deal-for-shoprite-grocery-workers-in-new-jersey-new-york-and-connecticut-as-pandemic-continues/.

Vogt, Erin. “Stop & Shop joins grocery stores ending ‘hero’ pay for workers.” NJ1015.com. July 15, 2020. URL: https://nj1015.com/stop-shop-joins-grocery-stores-ending-hero-pay-for-workers/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral.

Categories
Employment Pandemic Pandemic Art

Frontline worker

The term “frontline worker” has been around for a long time. The Law Insider journal, a resource center for lawyers, defines frontline workers as “employees who directly produce goods or deliver services. In general they are eligible for overtime compensation, regardless of job title. Managers and Supervisors as defined below are not Frontline Workers.” The global pandemic and its associated lockdowns added to this definition.

In 2021 the New York Department of Labor published a document entitled “Characteristics of Frontline Essential Workers” which defined what a frontline worker is as well as their occupation:

The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it a host of pervasive words
and phrases that suddenly had new meaning in our daily lives. One
example, “Essential Workforce”, became the ubiquitous catch-all for
workers who were forced to continue working during lockdowns. The
federal Centers for Disease Control defines “essential workers” as
“those who conduct a range of operations and services in industries
that are essential to ensure the continuity of critical functions in the
United States.” A subset of this group, the “Frontline Essential” workers, refers to those who perform critical work functions in close physical proximity to other people. “Frontline Essential” workers are at the greatest risk of exposure to COVID-19 as they perform their day-today job duties.

New York Department of Labor

The report lists some of the occupations of frontline workers: Cashiers, Cooks, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Nursing Assistants, Police, Registered Nurses and
Teachers.

In June 2022 a group called The Front Line Singers consisting of a choir of frontline workers made up of nurses, teachers and paramedics, performed “an original song inspired by their struggles and team work during the coronavirus pandemic” on Britain’s Got Talent (Duke). The performance can be watched on the show’s YouTube channel here.

An article published on Chronicle Live quoted Simon Cowell praising the group for their performance: “What we’ve gone through the last few years, it’s surreal and then out of it comes moments like this. It gives us a chance to say thank you to people like you, because it’s people like you who protected all of us” (Duke).

makeameme.org

Social Media Trends as of November 23, 2022

Facebook #frontlineworker: 20,000 people are posting about this
TikTok #frontlineworker: 38,900,000 views
YouTube #frontlineworker: 328 videos and 205 channels

Google Trends: “frontline worker” first appeared as a small blip on the radar during the week of July 12, 2020. This is probably in response to people querying who qualified as a frontline worker. The popularity of the term peaked during the week of June 5, 2022 which just coincided with the The Front Line Singers performance on Britain’s Got Talent show.

frontline worker search term

Sources:

Britain’s Got Talent channel. “These frontline HEROES give MOVING performance! | Auditions | BGT 2022.” YouTube. May, 2022. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXDxiBwfjxc.

“CHARACTERISTICS OF FRONTLINE ESSENTIAL WORKERS IN NEW YORK STATE.” New York Department of Labor. Sep 2021. URL: https://dol.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2021/09/characteristics-of-frontline-workers-09-22-21.pdf.

Duke, Simon. ” Who are Front Line Singers on Britain’s Got Talent? Choir spark emotional reaction from judges.” Chronicle Live. 2 June 2022. URL: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/tv/who-the-frontline-singers-bgt-23894790.

“Frontline worker.” Law Insider. URL: https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/frontline-worker.

“I can’t stay home, I’m an frontline worker” meme. MakeAMeme.org. URL: https://makeameme.org/meme/i-cant-stay-a3d7eff2df.

Categories
Employment Pandemic Pandemic Art

Essential employee

Essential employees or essential workers are those who provide vital services such as nurses, doctors, police and firefighters to name a few professions. At the height of the pandemic, when lockdown restrictions were in effect, the pool of essential workers expanded to include grocery workers, transportation workers and teachers.

The Centers for Disease Control defines essential workers as “as those who conduct a range of operations and services in industries that are essential to ensure the continuity of critical functions in the United States (U.S.)” (CDC).

When lockdown restrictions were in effect, states had to balance protecting the public while keeping the critical parts of their economy open. Millions of office workers deemed “non essential employees” could work remotely while those who worked in vital industries such as health care, policing and teaching still had to show up to work although a majority of schools instituted virtual learning.

Some states had a confusing patchwork of overlapping categories of what was considered essential. The National Conference of State Legislatures pointed out that:

States have added and subtracted essential worker categories and sectors based on what makes the most sense for them. For example, in some states workers supporting religious organizations and churches are considered essential, while in some others workers who support the cannabis industry receive the essential designation. Between the federal guidelines and state essential worker orders, a number of major sectors overlap including, but not limited to energy, child care, water and wastewater, agriculture and food production, critical retail (i.e. grocery stores, hardware stores, mechanics), critical trades (construction workers, electricians, plumbers, etc.) and transportation.

NCSL
CovidLexicon.net

An article published for the Daily Iowan on July 28, 2020 said that custodians and janitorial workers were to be considered essential employees because work calls for them to maintain high standards of cleanliness and sanitation. It quotes Kelly Baker, a faculty member of the University of Iowa College of Public Health, who said “[these workers are] already practicing a lot of the behaviors that we would ask them to implement to protect them from infection, so for example the wearing of gloves and using disinfectant products to clean surfaces and wearing masks and maintaining as much distance and separation from raw biological fluids as possible” (Hartel).

In 2020 the French-American musician Mark Rebillet uploaded a tribute song for essential workers to YouTube called the “Essential Workers Anthem.” It has received almost 2 million views.

Although the pandemic is behind us, we will always remember the sacrifice that essential workers made, risking their lives to provide us with the things we need from healthcare to food and we are forever grateful to them.

courtesy of reeceecup527

Social Media Trends as of November 20, 2022

Facebook #essentialemployee: 20,000 people are posting about this
Instagram #essentialemployee: 33,701 posts
TikTok #essentialemployee: 171,800,000 views
YouTube #essentialemployee: less than 100 videos and channels

Google Trends: “essential employee” first appeared during the week of March 15, 2020 and spiked a week later. No doubt individuals were searching Google to see if their jobs were considered essential or non-essential.

essential employee search term

Sources:

“COVID-19: Essential Workers in the States.” National Conference of State Legislatures. January 11, 2021. URL: https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/covid-19-essential-workers-in-the-states.aspx#:~:text=All%20workers%20who%20are%20part,Infrastructure%20Security%20Agency%20(CISA).

Hartel, Mary. “Janitors and Custodians remain essential workers during COVID-19 pandemic.” Daily Iowan. July 28, 2020. URL: https://dailyiowan.com/2020/07/28/janitors-and-custodians-remain-essential-workers-during-covid-19/.

“Interim List of Categories of Essential Workers Mapped to Standardized Industry Codes and Titles.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. URL: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/categories-essential-workers.html.

reeceecup527. “Essential Employees Problems” meme. Instagram. March 30, 2020. URL https://www.instagram.com/p/B-YL5bGJGsT/.

Rebillet, Mark. “ESSENTIAL WORKERS ANTHEM.” YouTube. 2020. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnDcD7rtaV4.

Categories
Employment Pandemic Remote Working

T.W.A.T (Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays)

What do you call an employee who only goes into the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays And Thursdays? The clue is in the first sentence. The original meaning of the term is a derogatory word used often in the United Kingdom.

An article published for SmartCompany.com on February 24, 2022 asks “are you a T.W.A.T?…Before you type me an angry complaint, know that it stands for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday – it’s an acronym to describe the hybrid workforce who only come into the office three days a week” (Elsworthy).

The Huffington Post published an article on the new meaning of this expression saying that “City workers have reportedly been using the term [T.W.A.T] to describe their cheeky colleagues taking advantage of the new ways of working…one person defended the employees, saying: ‘Perhaps better described as hypertwats. They are generally super efficient in the 3-day work period'” (Bakar).

There are no social media reports for this term (I get everything but the pandemic meaning).

Depending on context, and if you’re not in the office Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, then don’t be a T.W.A.T.


Sources:

Bakar, Fatima. “There’s A New Nickname For Hybrid Workers – And It Sounds A Bit Rude.” Huffington Post. August 10, 2021. URL: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/amp/
entry/theres-a-new-name-for-remote-workers-and-its-raising-a-lot-of-eyebrows_uk_616005cce4b0196444237826/.

Elsworthy, Emma. “Are you a T.W.A.T? How the pandemic created a new cohort of hybrid workers.” SmartCompany.com. February 24, 2022. URL: https://www.smart
company.com.au/people-human-resources/remote-work/are-you-a-t-w-a-t-hybrid-workers/.

The Age. “Here come the office TWaTs to ruin our city’s buzz.” Twitter. March 4, 2022. URL: https://twitter.com/theage/status/1499709073993969665.

Categories
Employment Pandemic Remote Working

Return to Office

“My experience of working from home is you spend an awful lot of time making another cup of coffee and then, you know, getting up, walking very slowly to the fridge, hacking off a small piece of cheese, then walking very slowly back to your laptop and then forgetting what it was you’re doing” – Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister.

The pandemic arrived in the United States in March 2020 which was quickly followed by a two week quarantine lockdown. State and local governments passed emergency mandates that required non-essential businesses to close. Establishments such as restaurants, gyms, salons and movie theaters were shut down and those who worked for them were out of a job. Knowledge workers such as those working in finance and IT were generally allowed to work from home and apps like Zoom became popular as a way for employees to stay in touch with management and coworkers. My office closed for two weeks till the pandemic had passed. We were instructed to take what we needed to do our jobs remotely. Two weeks became two months and then two years and I am still working from home.

For many, this “new normal” afforded them the opportunity to spend more time with their loved including their pets. No longer having to deal with office commutes, expensive lunches and difficult employees, the work life balance and quality of life improved for those working from home. There are many advantages as a remote worker. All those chores that may have waited till the weekend could be squeezed in between Zoom conferences. You could take the dog for a walk and do a virtual workout in your lunch hour.

After most people had been vaccinated and the pandemic had passed its peak and became endemic, there was a push to get people back to the office. Some who’d gone a long time without human contact looked forward to being back in the office but the majority of virtual workers wanted to keep remote working.

In some industries such as the financial sector, senior management felt their employees worked better in the office collaboratively. David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, said “I do think for a business like ours which is an innovative, collaborative apprenticeship culture, this is not ideal for us and it’s not a new normal. It’s an aberration that we’re going to correct as quickly as possible” (McKeever). The British prime minister Boris Johnson said “We need to get back into the habit of getting into the office. There will be lots of people who disagree with me, but I believe people are more productive, more energetic, more full of ideas, when they are surrounded by other people.” Boris felt that workers were unproductive while working remotely and were more likely to spend their working hours drinking slow brewed coffee and hacking off pieces of cheese (Taylor).

Some employees threatened to quit if their company forced them to come back to the office and in the age of the Great Resignation there were plenty of remote working jobs out there. A few few were scared to come back to the office for fear of catching Covid-19 but most wanted to keep their work/life balance.

Not every company was so demanding. Many CEOs recognized the benefits of remote working and employees found they were more productive working from home. In order to meet remote workers half way, some companies proposed a hybrid working environment whereby employees would come into the office a few days a week and work from home the rest of the week. Apple Corp created “return to office plans” that allowed employees to work a hybrid schedule with some days in the office and the rest working from home.

@1corporatemillennial

have fun tho 🤣 #YerAWizard #FritoLayRickRoll #StepandFlex #corporatemillennial #9to5 #wfh #millennialsoftiktok #workfromhome #workfromhomehumor #relatable #corporateamerica #corporatetiktok #corporatehumor #officehumor #returntooffice

♬ original sound – Elly | Corporate Millennial


Check out this funny YouTube video on “when meetings are no longer virtual” (Foil Arms and Hog).


The pandemic has changed the lives of office workers forever. Working Monday to Friday in the office from 9-5 is over. Hybrid and remote working schedules are here to stay.

pooiekoo

Social Media Trends as of May 20, 2022

Facebook #returntooffice: 5,500 people are posting about this
Instagram #returntooffice: 9,494 posts
TikTok #returntooffice: 34 million views
YouTube #returntooffice: 153 videos and 108 channels

Google Trends: “return to office” as a search term has been around for a while but its popularity peaked in August 2021 as vaccines became widely available and state and local governments decided that it was safe to come back to the office.

return to office search term

Sources:

Elly | Corporate Millennial. “When they announce the ‘return to office’ plan.” TikTok. December 30, 2021. URL: https://www.tiktok.com/@1corporatemillennial/
video/7047542286145834287?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&lang=en.

Foil Arms and Hog. “Back to the Office: When Meetings are No Longer Virtual.” YouTube. September 2, 2021. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU9VYcQWSOc.

McKeever, Vicky. “Goldman Sachs CEO Solomon calls working from home an ‘aberration’.” CNBC.com. February 25, 2021. URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/
25/goldman-sachs-ceo-solomon-calls-working-from-home-an-aberration-.html.

pooiekoo. “Welcome Note with Hand Sanitizer and Mask on Work Keyboard, Return to Workplace Pandemic” image. Adobe.com. File no: 359144776.

Taylor, Harry. “Boris Johnson says cheese and coffee can distract when working from home.” The Guardian. 14 May 2022. URL: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/
2022/may/14/boris-johnson-urges-more-people-to-return-to-office-working.

Categories
Employment Pandemic Remote Working

Remote working

Since the widespread adoption of the Internet, people have been remote working for years, though this mainly applied to tech workers. Once the pandemic started in 2020 many states and countries began the process of lock-down and asked workers, where possible, to do their work from home. As a result, meeting apps like Zoom took off in popularity as more and more business meetings were conducted virtually. As of the date of this blog post, more companies have asked their workers to go back to the office, though it seems the full time 9-5 workweek has disappeared in favor of hybrid working arrangements.

On March 12, 2020 my office closed and we were all told to work from home with the expectation we would be back after two weeks of quarantine. Well, two weeks turned into two years and I am still working remotely though I’m now on a hybrid schedule. When I went back to the office in 2021 I was the only person there. The silence was deafening and the atmosphere felt like something from the movie I am Legend starring Will Smith. Everyone’s desk calendar was still open to March 2020. It was as if time had stood still.

Back at the office: a year after lock-down, everyone’s desk calendar was still open to March 2020.

Social Media Trends as of March 14, 2022

Google Trends: remote working is not a new term, but during the pandemic it reached its peak during the week of March 15, 2021. It dipped for a while but started to increase during March 2022 as the effects of the pandemic waned and more employees were asked to go back to the office.

Remote working search term