16th September 2020

The data is in, WFH myth is busted

Many who read my observations on working from home in our Bento 1174 on the 3^rd September may wish to re-read and reflect. 

In that piece I observed how the WFH culture has developed and how this could eventually backfire when the data you did not know was being collated hit the harsh spotlight of executive management. 

I conclude in my OP that “if WFH works so well for employers, and notwithstanding the concerns above, employees should not be surprised if the next step is for firms to replace their expensive UK hire with an equally well qualified if not better qualified, even more productive WFH individual, offshore, at a much lower cost”! 

Well, the numbers are starting to come in. 

Bloomberg reports that “A troubling pattern emerged as most of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s employees worked from home to stem the spread of Covid-19: productivity slipped. 

Worker output was “particularly affected on Mondays and Fridays”, according to findings discussed by CEO Jamie Dimon in a private meeting with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analysts.  

In addition to the TGI long weekend Monday and Friday worker output issues there are “worries that remote work is no substitute for organic interaction”.  

These factors are part of why America’s biggest bank is “urging” more workers to return to their office starting on the 21^st September with a very welcome, IMO, siren call back firstly to senior sales and trading employees followed by workers in other functions. 

London next? 

The Bloomberg report went on to say that “JPMorgan’s findings provide a data point in the debate over whether employees perform as well at the kitchen table as they do in the workplace, showing extended remote work may not be all it’s cracked up to be, at least for some job functions. While pre-pandemic studies found remote workers were just as efficient as those in offices, there were questions about how employees would perform under compulsory lockdowns”. 

But now the US data is in, no doubt the UK is about to follow.

They say that a sneeze in the United States results in flu in the UK, in this case, not that flu!

I am not sure when London will see employees called back to work in the office, but to be sure, many jobs will go in financial services when the UK data is looked at. And of that many, any replacements needed will be found offshore at a much lower cost.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

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