COVID-19 canceled the office — or at least that’s what many employees seem to think these days. Many have grown comfortable with remote work and are resisting growing calls from employers to return to the office, even if only for a few days a week.
But in doing so, employees in many sectors risk shooting themselves in the foot — and missing out on important career and personal development benefits that are hard to achieve through Zoom meetings alone. That can be especially pronounced for newer or younger employees who haven’t had the chance to build strong networks yet.
When the pandemic first hit, it produced a moment of remarkable unity between employers and employees on the need to shift to remote work. Two years on, that’s starting to fray as employers realize what they have lost from office-based work while many workers are reluctant to give up their new arrangements.
