The pandemic four years ago caused the new norm of working from home to be introduced by thousands of companies for business continuity. The movement control order forces employers who have so far refused to allow staff to work from home to give flexibility. As a result, many people realize that there is no loss of productivity when working from home and that work-life balance can be achieved.
But Dell issued orders to staff to return to office work in February. Those who refuse to return will face not being promoted. After several months of the directive being issued, nearly half of Dell's employees in the United States chose to remain working from home. The risk of not being promoted at all is not able to make them change their minds. Meanwhile, among international staff, almost one third chose to take the same decision.
Among the reasons given by these employees is the cost savings of traveling to the office every day and giving importance to the freedom of working at home. Many also feel that the work they do is not interrupted even if they work from home, causing the return instructions to be unreasonable.
Personally, I prefer working from home. After sending the children to school, you can go straight to the restaurant to have breakfast while working before 9 am. There is no pressure to ease traffic congestion to and from the office. As a result more work can be done every day.