Has Your Employer Redesigned the Office for RTO — or Added Job Perks?
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While some employers clearly — and shortsightedly — don't care if you aren't exactly enthused about coming back to the office, others are making changes (with varied success) to entice workers back. We thought this would be an interesting discussion after seeing a recent WSJ story that touches on this: “Offices Ditch Harsh Fluorescent Lights. New Tech Is On the Way” [gift link]. (Because who doesn't love harsh, buzzing lights?)
If you're one of the many people who have transitioned from WFH to RTO, either voluntarily or under duress, did anything look or feel different at the office? Has your workplace redesigned or renovated, or did your employer add any perks for those RTO? What would YOU change if you could?
{related: the best office chairs for women}
The WSJ story focuses on making improvements to typical office lighting that add comfort, potentially increase employee productivity, and even provide health benefits. Here's what they featured:
- circadian lighting, which is customized (brighter/dimmer, warmer/cooler) to the body’s circadian rhythms and can balance people's melatonin and serotonin levels
- faux skylights, which produce “sunlight” and “moonlight” as needed
- adjustable lighting in certain spaces, e.g., conference rooms or private focus rooms
- AI-controlled windows that adjust to outdoor conditions (“Adjust to outdoor conditions, HAL.”)
- fancy lighted portals for transition spaces (hmm)
What's the lighting like at your office, readers? And has your employer made other physical changes to make more employees more likely to want to return? What would YOU change?
Some companies are hoping to lure people back to work by focusing on majorly brightening up office spaces with color and decor. Check out this other WSJ story [gift link] about using color to boost productivity and motivation (the term “color-drenched” makes an appearance), and also this 2023 NYT story [gift link] about creating the ultimate Envy Office” by “try[ing] to combine the comforts of a living room and the glamour of a vacation” (hmm).
{related: better ergonomics at the office: what products have you tried and loved?}
What about adding employee perks that may make the return to the office a bit more attractive? Some companies are doing one or more of the following:
- relaxing office dress codes, often switching to business casual (we have tips!)
- offering commuter benefits, such as public transit passes, parking reimbursements, or even free parking
- covering relocation expenses for formerly remote workers
- giving raises (see Cameo‘s $10,000/year incentive)
- providing on-site childcare; subsidizing childcare
- allowing flexible work hours
- providing free lunches
Have your employers added any of the above, and did it/they factor into your decision to RTO? (We realize, of course, that some readers aren't actually permitted to make a decision.)
On the more negative side: Did your office switch to a hot-desking setup (ugh) as people returned to work in person? Is the space more crowded than it was pre-pandemic because those hired as remote-only are now on-site? Any other unwelcome changes you've been dealing with since ending or tapering remote work?
{related: how to decorate your workspace?}
Readers, tell us about any changes your employer has made since RTO! And if you could transfer one thing (furniture, lighting, vibe) from your home office to your workplace, what would it be?
Stock photo via Stencil
Lol none of these, just commands to return and reminders that everyone was in 5 days before. Compliance and enforcement are decidedly mixed.
Ha I work for the federal government. Bright florsecent lights and the only perk is more work, more BS, and less resources and colleagues.
We hotel desks and have no storage available. Ofc there’s no coffee or anything provided. It’s BYO pens and notebooks and everything. 3 bathroom stalls for over 100 women. Mice and roaches in the building. We have more staff than we have desks, so sometimes you have to sit in the conference room with 20 other people.
I’m glad we have potable water, I know lots of federal offices don’t.
I also used to work in a state government office that was BYO soap in the bathroom so glad that’s not the case here
This is me. Our office has potable water and no asbestos or bats so I consider myself lucky. It’s this weird abusive relationship where you do good for the country but the country doesn’t want to do good for you. Once out of sheer pettiness I did the math and it would actually save a lot of money in labor time if they provided coffee but alas.
this is terrible. why are there not more news stories about this? i am so so sorry.
The general public does not like or support public servants. They think we deserve unsafe and unsanitary work environments. Whenever there are news articles on the issue the comments are toxic and reflect this.
Do you work in my building? Lol, also a fed and also have none of this. Heats gone out, airs gone out, bathrooms have had to close due to water issues … you name it. We no longer have food services like we did before Covid, so it’s actually worse. Rats, bugs, you name it.
You ask about healthier options in the vending machines and they tell you to bring food from home. You ask for a flexible schedule and they mandate a start time that is actually before the earliest time that schools will allow drop off, making it impossible for parents of young children.
For the last five years, they have touted what a success remote and telework has been – productivity has gone up, morale is high, turnover numbers have decreased. Jobs with high turnover finally have stability. Suddenly leadership is proclaiming remote work as a failure. It’s disingenuous and it erodes your trust in them.
But how can we complain? We are lucky to still have jobs. And they know that.
I’ve worked in County government and the only perks were what my elected boss could afford to give us herself because she was wealthy enough to afford it.
These conditions are terrible, but remember, just as voters often think their tax dollars and the government is too removed from them, you are too far removed from any economic model that would encourage improved working conditions. Congress appropriates funding and while they sit in their fancy offices and take overseas trips and somehow become wealthy while in public office, they are not doing their job of making sure the federal government runs efficiently and provides good working conditions for those who serve, because it doesn’t serve them and they have no profit motive attached to it.
Blame Congress, not the public.
Not a fed, but in higher ed at state universities. All I can do is laugh when people talk about our “luxurious” facilities. I’ve frequently worked in buildings without heat or AC, definitely no coffee or office supplies, water may have technically been potable but was undrinkable (and I’m not that picky about water). And at least one place I worked (a very major research university) didn’t have campus wifi until the mid 2010s, just individual offices or labs that had to buy their own routers and set up their own networks, while other parts of campus didn’t have it at all.
Lullllz. The perk is that some people don’t actually HAVE a spot to work in apparently!
Also federal government (as a contractor). In addition to much of what others have written, we have inadequate parking, so shift work is being considered. I leave home by 4:30, so I can always get a space, but I feel for those with small children or other issues that prevent an early arrival.
I already brought my own coffee and food, so that hasn’t changed.
Everything else–the stress, the uncertainty, having to perform soul-destroying acts–that’s just extra. You might consider those our “perks.”
we recently innovated a parking spot that you can reserve online for two hours – so you can be sure of finding parking for your meeting at another building on campus.