Remote work culture has surged in recent years. Even before COVID became a factor, more people were finding that they like being able to work from home or without having to go into an office every single day.
However, when COVID arrived, this significantly increased the amounts of people working remotely in this country. Many companies mandated their workers to handle tasks remotely, due to shutdowns, travel restrictions, and other related factors.
With these restrictions now in the past, many CEOs and managers want employees to get back to working in the office every day. Yet, employees are more than eager to keep the remote work model intact.
This is now causing issues for Starbucks concerning its corporate employees, according to Washington Examiner.
Conflicts Between Working Styles at Starbucks
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has openly admitted his struggles with getting corporate staffers within the company to leave remote work and get back into the office.
According to Schultz, he’s been very much trying to get employees to quit remote work, but it’s just not happening at the levels he wants.
During an interview, the Starbucks CEO conceded that today’s corporate workforce in the company is of a younger generation than himself.
The biggest of the biggest CEOs are having to accept the fact that employees are not going back to the office. Here is StarBucks CEO talking about how he has “embraced” remote work. pic.twitter.com/uT9AGQ6f7v
— Saurabh (@a_remote_dev) June 11, 2022
However, Schultz still reiterated that he’s interested in doing whatever he can to get these staffers back to in-person work and away from remote work.
At one point, the CEO even stated he’d do push-ups, get on his knees, and do “whatever [they] want” in order to have more corporate staffers on-site and not working remotely.
Another Hidden Factor
Lifestyle and convenience are definitely two factors driving remote work culture in the United States. However, another factor that doesn’t get so much attention, oddly enough, is gas prices.
Many workers who have to commute to an office every single day, or even multiple times during the week, are having to spend increasing amounts of money on gas.
Meanwhile, gas prices are only continuing to get more expensive. There’s nothing indicating that prices are set to decrease in the nearby future whatsoever. In fact, projections indicate ongoing price jumps.
Pushing to end remote work while gas is $6/gal is such a “Biden” thing to do…
— Robert (Durden) (@realrobdurden) March 8, 2022
This is one reason why many workers aren’t too eager to rush back into offices. In fact, if gas prices keep on climbing, some people may not be able to afford to go much of anywhere.
Certain employees may have no choice but to work remotely. This is something that CEOs and managers across various companies may want to take into consideration.
What do you think about remote work culture in the United States today? Do you believe this will eventually become the new normal in how people get jobs done? Please share your insight in the comments area with us.
