If there's anything this pandemic has taught us, it's that going forward the perk most requested by job applicants may not be a robust salary and benefits package (which remains crucial, of course), but the flexibility to telecommute.
Gone are the days where employees were perfectly content sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic to make it to a pointless 9 a.m. meeting that could have just as easily been handled via Microsoft Teams or Zoom.
If there's anyone who can attest to the misery of an agonizingly long commute, it's yours truly.
I work a mere 8.2 miles away from home, but my morning and evening commute during the school year runs anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour! (And if there's an accident, I flirt with an hour and a half.)
Blame it on antiquated infrastructure and a city population bursting at the seams.
You can imagine what a wonderful respite working from home has been for people like myself who have to contend with clogged streets and jam-packed highways.
Sure, being able to work in my pajamas while watching Maury Povich has been refreshing, but nothing beats going from roughly ten hours of traffic each week to nil.
Whoever said traffic shortens your life was on to something. It soaks up your physical and emotional energy like few other things can.
In my view, employers who continue to rely on the old-school model of having associates work from the office 40+ hours each week risk watching talent walk right out the door in droves.
Working from home boosts morale. For the most part, employees report feeling more relaxed and refreshed. And why wouldn't they? Their time isn't being spent (or as much of it anyway) in traffic delays, in-person meetings, or useless water cooler conversations.
Moreover, at home we may be able to squeeze in some Netflix, put a load to wash, play a video game with the kid, or take a short walk during working hours.
Time is the most precious commodity we have; once it's gone, we can never get it back. And most would agree that our time isn't stretched as thin while we're working from the home office or bedroom.
I can understand some common complaints, like missing face-to-face interactions with co-workers, not feeling as self-motivated when there is no boss to look over your shoulder, and the temptation to slack off or work longer hours than you would at the office.
But by and large, working from home affords more flexibility than the traditional 9 to 5 format, which I personally hope goes the way of the dodo bird.
If anything, a compromise along these lines can be struck: Employees can work from the office three days a week and twice from home.
Companies can reap myriad benefits from such an arrangement, from lower overhead costs to a marked drop in employees calling in sick.
I urge companies big and small to get with the times. We should not be reticent to request that they grant us telecommuting privileges, whether it's an employer we're interviewing with for the first time or one we've worked for more than a decade.
Rest assured that if they don't value you enough to consider your request, another one will.
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