Le grandi aziende tecnologiche stanno decidendo il futuro dello smart-working post-covid. Le strategie finora adottate sono però molto diverse. Un articolo di The Verge riporta la lettera di protesta dei dipendenti di Apple scaturita dalla poposta dell’azienda di rientrare in ufficio per tre giorni a settimana (lunedì, martedì e giovedì) a partire dall’autunno, mantendendo il lavoro da casa per i rimanenti due giorni.

“That Apple’s remote/location-flexible work policy, and the communication around it, have already forced some of our colleagues to quit. Without the inclusivity that flexibility brings, many of us feel we have to choose between either a combination of our families, our well-being, and being empowered to do our best work, or being a part of Apple.”

“Over the last year we often felt not just unheard, but at times actively ignored,” the letter says. “Messages like, ‘we know many of you are eager to reconnect in person with your colleagues back in the office,’ with no messaging acknowledging that there are directly contradictory feelings amongst us feels dismissive and invalidating…It feels like there is a disconnect between how the executive team thinks about remote / location-flexible work and the lived experiences of many of Apple’s employees.”

L’approccio di Apple introduce più flessibilità rispetto al periodo pre-pandemia, ma è più rigido dell’approccio di Twitter e Facebook, che un anno fa hanno comunicato ai dipendenti che potranno lavorare da casa per sempre.

La scelta di Google invece è stata invece annunciata dal CEO Sundar Pichai:

We’ll move to a hybrid work week where most Googlers spend approximately three days in the office and two days wherever they work best. Since in-office time will be focused on collaboration, your product areas and functions will help decide which days teams will come together in the office. There will also be roles that may need to be on site more than three days a week due to the nature of the work.

Remote work: We’ll also offer opportunities for you to apply for completely remote work (away from your team or office) based on your role and team needs. […] Whether you choose to transfer to a different office or opt for completely remote work, your compensation will be adjusted according to your new location.

Work-from-anywhere weeks: Going forward, Googlers will be able to temporarily work from a location other than their main office for up to 4 weeks per year (with manager approval). The goal here is to give everyone more flexibility around summer and holiday travel.

Per quanto riguarda le compagnie europee, SAP, azienda di software con sede a Walldorf (Germania), ha scelto di proporre il work-from-anywhere:

In an email to staff on Tuesday, SAP said it was adopting a “flexible and trust-based workplace as the norm, not the exception”.

Employees will be able to work from home, at the office or remotely, and it will be possible for them to set flexible schedules. The company will redesign its offices to make more space for teamwork and collaboration.

In un editoriale del Guardian (UK) l’autrice riporta però i rischi legati alla scelta del work-from-home qualora questo fosse opzionale:

The home worker’s perennial fear of being excluded from some loop that they didn’t know existed is seeping anxiously back, and may only increase when the “work from home” rule is finally abandoned

Unless men – young and old, senior and junior, fathers or not – also seize the chance to ditch the commute, move out of the city or make a lifestyle change, then the new flexibility will inevitably become associated with being on a “mummy track”, and be held against those who take it up.

Il ministro alle pari opportunità Liz Truss ha quindi proposto di introdurre il lavoro flessibile come opzione di default, ove possibile, rendendolo così più acettabile per tutti e rimuovendo la necessità di fornire una giustificazione al datore di lavoro.

L’autrice dell’editoriale conclude che questa pandemia può essere l’occasione per un cambiamento epocale:

Of course, some workers can’t wait to be back in the office, after months of fighting their flatmates for space at the kitchen table, and that’s fair enough. But for the rest, the moral of the pandemic is arguably that life is short and too precious to waste. Take it or lose it – for this may be a once-in-a-generation chance for change.

 

Immagine da Pixabay.