For the past three years – since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic – countless employers across the US have allowed their employees to work from home. Now, as many businesses are asking their workers to return to the office, they’re finding out that those remote workers are resisting. And that’s putting it mildly.

The dramatic increase in people working from home that occurred in 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic may seem now like a distant memory. And it’s true that both remote workers and their managers have, by this time, settled into their new “normal” work routines. But, as is the case with any aspect of the work we perform day after day, the remote work phenomenon continues to evolve.

If you’re like many other managers and company owners, telling your employees that they are required to work onsite all the time may sound like an unreasonable demand. This is especially true given the fact that so many workers have fully embraced the flexibility of working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic and – as much as we’d like to think otherwise – chances are that the pandemic is far from over.

By now, it’s no secret that most employees really value the flexibility of working from home. Even though the COVID 19 pandemic appears to be over for the most part, workers who were once afforded the opportunity to work remotely are hesitant to let go of that privilege.

One of the greatest challenges facing employers in our current business climate is attracting and hiring good employees. In this post-pandemic environment, it seems as though there are more job vacancies than there are talented workers to fill those jobs. The key to attracting talent is to offer potential employees what they want most. And we’re not just talking about good salaries, although that’s certainly part of the equation.

It may seem like we’ve been in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic for many years. But the fact is that (as of this writing) it was only a short 2 ½ years ago that people across the US and around the world began to experience the life-changing ramifications of the pandemic. At that time, companies and businesses began to close down, and an increasing number of people began to work from home on a regular basis.

Any experienced manager can tell you how challenging it can be to walk the fine line between being an involved manager and micromanaging. That is true enough when you’re in the same location as your employees, but it can be even more of a mystery when trying to manage a remote team. Fortunately, being an effective manager for remote staff isn’t nearly as daunting as it may seem at first.

There’s no doubt about it -- the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an exponential increase in the number of people working from home. And while it may be more obvious to see the benefits of remote work from the employee point of view, the truth is that allowing staff members to work from home is beneficial to employers as well. What follows are some reasons why remote work is a win-win for everyone.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world in countless ways. And one of the most significant changes has been the exponential increase in work-from-home job opportunities. Business owners and managers from virtually every industry adapted to the many restrictions put in place by federal and state governments by allowing at least a portion of their workforce to work from home.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in lockdowns throughout many countries around the world. As a result, the concept of allowing employees to work from home was embraced by countless CEOS, and many of those companies thrived during the pandemic lockdowns. In fact, it’s fair to say that were it not for remote work, many of those companies would have had a difficult time weathering the lockdown storm. But now, as the pandemic appears to be winding down, some of those CEOs are changing their minds with regard to remote jobs.