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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Four years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and the debate over working from home is still going on.
This week, we reported that Bank of America has been sending “letters of education” to staff who are not turning up to the office enough, warning them of disciplinary action.
So we asked our work and careers experts here at the FT (our newsroom is in the office Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday), why companies are trying to force unwilling workers back to the office more frequently.
Pilita Clark, an FT business columnist, has previously written about a study conducted in 2023 that suggested that fully remote work can lower productivity by about 10 per cent, compared to being in the office full-time.
But hybrid working, where employees split their time between the home and the office, did not decrease productivity. And researchers at Stanford University have found that having flexibility about where to work is as valuable to employees as an eight per cent pay rise.
Some bosses, however, are still mourning office culture. But Emma Jacobs, who writes about work and careers for the FT, said there has been some exaggeration of the joys of the office.
“The idea that we’re missing out on these crazy serendipitous moments is very overblown,” she said. “You can manage it online and maybe being away from the office encourages a bit of creativity.”
She added that while there are still occasional skirmishes, employers and employees have largely settled on a truce.
“Employees want to work a bit more from home and employers want them to work a bit more from the office but generally they’re meeting in the middle” she said. “Beneath the headlines, people have generally settled on hybrid.”
Our favourite pieces
• Everyone hates office politics. But Miranda Green is right (I think) to point out that it is not optional — unless you play the game you are likely to end up both unrecognised and unhappy at work.
Malcolm Moore (@malcolmmoore)
Editor, FT Edit
• “What should I do if I am pushed to choose between killing myself or shooting someone else,” asks Song Jung-a’s 19-year-old son over dinner, days before his conscription into the South Korean army. What awaits him and, more broadly, what is the future of this increasingly unpopular practice? I enjoyed this personal exploration of a contentious issue.
Hannah Rock
Deputy editor, FT Edit (@HannahRockFT)
Something to listen to
Untold: The Retreat — We have launched a new podcast. The first episode of The Retreat delves into an elite type of meditation and the heavy toll it took on two sisters.
Money Clinic with Claer Barrett — How do you start saving for future you? Claer has some tips about where you should put your money if you are trying to build a pension pot.
Unhedged — An obscure rule for electing corporate board members could be having a massive impact on how big businesses in the US work. Our markets podcast explains.
Something to watch
As China’s urban population grows, the FT looks at how the country is trying to secure its food security.
Read the full article here