PUSH AND PULL

To Find Top Talent

Start With The Folks Working From Home

How long will it take for recruiters to figure out the best place to find top talent ... is at home?

And by the time they figure it out, will there still be any working-from-home people left?

The great post-pandemic tug of war between business and office workers accelerated after Labor Day, with more hybrid setups moving from two to three days a week in the office. The Wall Street Journal has been surveying in-office attendance in 10 cities, and it's up to nearly half.

The word is out. The bosses want you in the office.

And plenty of people are balking.

* * *

In the long history of labor relations in America, business usually has the upper hand. In the John Roberts Supreme Court, capitalists are nearly undefeated.

The reach to re-establish control is no surprise. The question was what would be the cover story, uh, rationale. Turned out it's "corporate culture" and "increased collaboration."

Those are, in fact, really good things and laudable goals. The problem is that culture and collaboration have done just fine over the last 900 or so days. The connectivity tools have matured, workers have become adept in their use, and in case after case, people kicked ass working remotely.

In what business school class do they teach taking something that's been working really well, and throwing it away?

But here's the worst part. Something really big is getting lost in a narrow debate about power and control, about returning to a cubicle.

The planet.

* * *

There are major environmental benefits to having millions of people working from home, particularly when it comes to greenhouse gases. Fewer drivers burning less gas is a good thing for a changing climate.

Fewer greenhouse gas emissions, GHG to use the lingo, leads to cleaner air, and that leads to many public health benefits. Some studies suggest dirty air kills more people than malaria or HIV/Aids. It certainly lowers the quality of life for people with asthma and other respiratory ailments.

Now working from home is not a magic bullet. Electricity consumption at home is going up, which is not a positive, but people recycle more at home, so there's that.

Experts will continue to slice and dice and attempt to quantify and balance the environmental impact of WFH for the foreseeable future. Here's one thing that's going to be hard to measure.

It just feels better.

* * *

Forget the savings in greenhouse gas emissions: I don't waste an hour in my car. Instead of taking a break at a watercooler, I can throw in a load of laundry. Instead of picking up dinner on the way home, I have time to cook a proper, healthy meal. You know, with the time I would have spent sitting in traffic.

The eternal power balance between employer and employee hinges on available choices. People who run out of options wind up running back to the office when told to do so. The people with options resist or hold out longer or stick to their guns and find a new, remote-only job.

What the pandemic taught many people is that working from home isn't a way to slack off. It's a way to be a lot better in both your work and your life. This is particularly true of early risers who know they get the most done before they are even supposed to arrive in the parking lot.

I'm taking the long view in believing that remote work will remain a permanent option. Because if there's one thing business knows, it's the bottom line, and in moving the bottom line, you need to find the best people possible.

And right now, they are working from home.

-30-

Mr. Marshall, who uses italics when speaking in his third-person footers, drove less than 500 miles in 2021.