By Danny Westneat The struggles of Seattle’s downtown to recover after the pandemic have rightly been blamed on some key factors, such as the inability of the city to get control of public safety there. But new data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows just how much the change in how we work has affected
Companies that mandate RTO see slower workforce growth, studies show
Fresh analysis from Revelio Labs echoes research showing that office mandates cost companies hard-to-replace workers and hamper hiring. December 18, 2024 Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman defended the company’s return-to-office policy during an October all-hands meeting, saying that if employees didn’t feel they could work well in that environment, “there are other companies
Workers without WFH options are compensated for it, study finds
By Irina Anghel Bloomberg Hybrid work has lifestyle benefits for those who can do it — and financial benefits for those who can’t. A new study found that remote workers in the U.K. sacrificed pay growth in the first two years after the COVID-19 pandemic, while in-person staff saw bigger gains to compensate for the
Microsoft reportedly clarifies in-office policy amid campus expansion
By Nick Pasion – Reporter, Puget Sound Business Journal Oct 9, 2024 Microsoft, the third largest employer in Washington, reportedly has no plans to call its employees back to the office five days per week. The company’s commitment to a flexible work policy, which was first reported by Business Insider, is somewhat surprising considering it’s nearly six years
One reason that most companies won’t admit is driving new RTO requirements
Marq Burnett – Associate Editor, The Playbook, The Business Journals Oct 9, 2024 Many organizations have championed better connectivity and collaboration as reasons for implementing more return-to-office policies. But new data suggests there may be a more nefarious reason, at least for some companies. A recent survey from ResumeTemplates found 1 in 10 companies are increasing in-office
Remote-work options are rapidly disappearing
Bethany Bickley / ACBJ; Getty Images Marq Burnett – Associate Editor, The Playbook, The Business Journals Sep 2, 2024 The days of widespread, fully remote work may be coming to a close. That’s according to a new survey from ResumeBuilder, which found 87% of companies that had been fully remote will return to the office by 2025.
Letting people work from home is good for companies’ revenue growth
By Matthew Boyle Bloomberg Companies that allow remote work have experienced revenue growth that’s four times faster than those that are more stringent about office attendance, a new survey shows, adding fuel to the debate over productivity and performance in today’s workplaces. The analysis of 554 public companies that employ a collective 26.7 million people
Return-to-office is a $1.3 trillion problem few have figured out
By Matthew Boyle Bloomberg News In the emerging post-pandemic era, most aspects of life have returned to normal. Moviegoers are flocking to cinemas, vacationers jammed airports for summer travel and kids are returning to classrooms. The one thing that has remained stubbornly fraught: the world of work. Three and a half years after millions of
As office returns ramp up, workers are commuting more — and it’s costing them
By Andy Medici – Senior Reporter, The Playbook, The Business Journals Aug 31, 2023 If time is money, then commutes cost the average U.S. worker thousands of dollars a year. As the back-and-forth over a return to the office continues, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce calculated the cities with the costliest commutes by comparing the average commute time in each
Amazon is wrong — a return-to-work mandate is about control
Heather Snavely Special to The Seattle Times Recently, The Seattle Times reported that an Amazon executive said that it was serendipitous to return to the office but had no data to back that up, even going so far as to say “actual data … it’s very hard to come by” and especially “any data that […] would