The COVID-19 pandemic upended the American work culture, and it's still being felt even with the pandemic largely in the rear-view mirror. Depending on which survey or study you look at, Americans are working more, less, harder, smarter, or just differently than before. A recent analysis of labor statistics finds the average American workweek has shrunk by more than a half hour in the last three years. But another study from the staffing firm Robert Half says the change may be more in how people work. "We found that approximately 77 percent of professionals with flexibility on the job are actually putting in more hours than they were three years ago," says Jacob Shupe, regional manager with Robert Half.
While people may not be going into an office and clocking in for 40 hours a week anymore, they are working at different times and different places. Recent surveys have shown a growing number of people would even take a pay cut in order to work from home. "In our survey, we found that 32 percent of workers who go into the office at least one day a week are willing to take a pay cut for the ability to work more remotely full-time," says Shupe.
While many businesses have tried to coax their employees back to the office as much as possible, they're also having to adapt to the reality of more flexibility and hybrid work schedules. "Most organizations are starting to embrace this new normal a little bit, or they already have," says Shupe. "Because I do think it's a competitive benefit for them from a talent acquisition standpoint...unemployment is still at historic lows."
As for where this trend is heading, it's anybody's guess. But Shupe believes the traditional in-office work week is probably gone for good. "Whether hybrid ends up being one day a week, two days a week, three days a week as a norm, who knows," he tells KTRH. "But it's going to be probably mandated by geography, availability of talent, and to some extent the needs of the individual businesses."
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