Canadians Want PS Back In The Office: POLL
This a poll from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute:
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For many, remote work is an indispensable element of post-pandemic office life, but balance between work in-office and at-home has become a source of dispute between employees and employers.
As the federal government mandates more in-office time for its workers, new data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds a majority of Canadians (59%) support federal workers spending more time in-office and less time remotely.
Support outweighs opposition among working Canadians (54% vs. 32%) as well as among union members (52% vs. 35%), including those carrying a union card in the public sector (47% vs. 41%).
The union representing the bulk of federal workers has promised a “summer of discontent” in response to the new federal government remote work policy requiring at least three days of in-office work. The discontent could spill over into negotiations between the government and 9,000 Canada Border Services workers, who could strike this summer and delay border crossings.
If that were to happen, half (47%) of Canadians want the federal government to continue to push forward with the new remote work policy, while one-third (33%) say the government should back down. Public sector union members (45%) are more likely to want the federal government to rescind the policy in the face of discontent than to move forward with the new return-to-workplace mandate (36%).
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Remote vs in-office. I am unaware of any reliable research on these two options – on the issues of productivity, work quality, employee satisfaction and stress, among others. Anecdotally, I do know that a considerable period of government office time is non productive – what with irrelevant social interaction and meetings that never seem to have any real purpose and never seem to end. In 30 years in Ottawa public service I can’t recall even one upper management controlled meeting that met all the essentials (my list) for a high performance meeting.
Of my 10 Federal staff, one was a serious problem (no work that was self initiated, and poor work output), three needed daily oversight (no initiative, but did what was asked), and two new staff needed guidance and training. That left 4 that were very responsible and could be fully trusted working anywhere. Work from home is a nightmare in the above scenario. Managers Know this. good staff know this. The pandemic is over, the job pays enough to “get to work’ and $10 daycare is implemented to help. I am with getting the job done as management expects and where your workplace is. Some productivity is gained in an uninterrupted remote environment but in my case only 40% of my staff would show this marginal gain, and the rest would lose productivity, in one or two cases almost all productivity.
As an independent contractor remote work proved economical and efficient
1. No trouble finding a meeting room
2. No problem with the commute
3. No problem bookiing a meeting Monday at 9 am or Friday at 4 pm.
The teams interface is extremely effective imo.
Remote work can be very productive
I think the employees are making a mountain out of a mole hill. When I worked in the Federal Government from the late 70’s to mid 90’s I actually liked going to work. I enjoyed being with other people and none of us ever thought of working from home. That to me is an excuse to do what they want and of course smoke which isn’t allowed at the work place and in the middle of the day I usually see employees running out to do groceries or out just to get out. All kinds of excuses. I’m sure lots are doing their laundry, cleaning their apartments etc. I don’t believe in working from home,that is why we always went to work. I don’t believe I ever heard of anything like this in my life. All these government employees should count themselves lucky that they still have their job and collecting their direct deposit for their pay every two weeks. Also maybe all of them should stop and think that each and every one of them can be replaced. By the way I also live in a large apartment and I see what’s going on around here, it’s not the way it should be any longer. I hope the Government sends them back to work 5 days a week which is normal not 3.
I’m being a little bit selfish here but I want to see PS workers back to work cuz the mid week middle of the afternoon line ups at Costco very annoying.