People are used to fighting for seats when commuting to work. It just usually doesn’t continue at the office.
That’s becoming the norm as companies realize their RTO mandates are bigger than their office spaces, writes BI’s Emily Stewart.
From Instagram to AT&T to Amazon, companies have called workers back to the office only to find out they don’t have enough desks for everyone.
The desk shortage could be due to a lack of foresight, a sneaky layoff technique, or something in between. But one thing is for sure: It’s not a problem set to disappear anytime soon.
Even if companies do expand their footprint, it won’t be so that workers can get their own slice of cubicle heaven. The most common ratio between desks and employees is 1-1.49, and most companies want even more workers for every seat they have.
Companies’ RTO woes aren’t an easy fix.
I understand executives’ reluctance to snap up more office space. The post-pandemic scars from carrying expensive leases for desks that remained empty still run deep.
But hot desking doesn’t feel like a silver bullet.
Sure, you can bet there will always be enough seats because some workers will be sick, on vacation, or taking meetings on a random day. And that’ll likely pay off during certain parts of the year. (You’ll have your pick of the litter at the office starting next week.)
But for other chunks of the year, it could become a constant game of musical chairs. And if bringing people back to the office is all about productivity, does it really make sense to have them spend their morning looking for a spot to set up their laptops?
A hybrid setup affords you more flexibility. But most people might gravitate toward coming into the office on the same day, which could create a similar desk availability issue. (Fridays aren’t really a crowd favorite.)
You could mandate certain days for employees to spread things out, but that’s likely to ruffle feathers. And isn’t the whole point of coming into the office about everyone working together in person?
That raises a larger question about what a company’s real RTO motive is. Because if it’s about getting people back to the office to work together, giving them a desk to do it feels like it should be high on the to-do list.
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