Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

Of course, you can force employees to come to the office. Ever read the employment contract? The location is legally fixed. Whether one should do it is a completely different question and highly individual.

As soon as there is a company agreement on the subject, you cannot simply force people back into the office. Without one, of course, it is at the mercy of the boss’s whims for better or worse.

Of course, you can force employees to come to the office. Have you ever read the employment contract? The location is legally fixed. Whether one should do it is a completely different question and highly individual.

So in our company, no one would dare to do that. A few months ago, we tried a test balloon: The company would have saved about 60% of personnel costs unexpectedly ;)

Well, that really depends a lot on the job profile. That may still apply to everything that is IT in the broadest sense, but the typical German employee is rather sluggish and inflexible. Of course, with the younger ones there is even more risk that they will vote with their feet. I told my boss and the top boss that too, when they introduced three days of presence, that it would be difficult to attract young talent. Nevertheless, it will be introduced starting in August. So far, no wave of resignations has hit us, although the grumbling and teeth grinding are already there... We'll see.

I consider at least a certain amount of office presence, such as 2-3 days, indispensable. We are currently experiencing serious quality problems with our products because basic processes no longer function properly and the "One Team, One Product" feeling has steadily diminished. Fewer and fewer people feel collectively responsible for issues across the entire unit (Certainly, much of this is due to the organizational structure, but I attribute a large part of it to absenteeism / home office as well). When scheduling meetings on Fridays in the office (regarding the aforementioned problems), there is initially a great outcry that Friday is a home office day (when people supposedly already say goodbye to their laptops from home at 2:00 PM (irony))...

Fewer and fewer people feel collectively responsible for issues

Sign of the times, this has nothing to do with mobile work.

The working world has changed massively since Corona. I currently have 2 to 3 days of [HO] per week, my wife 3 to 4. And that is also the absolute minimum we can currently imagine.

Why can't we imagine less [HO]?

We both work in teams that are spread all over Germany. When we go to the office, we can never see all colleagues anyway.

It is incredibly great and practical to be able to alternate tasks like taking the child to and from daycare.

If the child is sick, we have so far almost always been able to bridge it with [HO] and did not have to take time off.

Every day of [HO] saves 100 km on the road and gives me 2 hours of free time.

With [HO], I can react more flexibly and manage my time. At the office, I usually finish at 3:30 PM; with [HO], a meeting can sometimes take place at 5 PM.