Little by little over the past year, companies have been coaxing employees back into the office after the end of pandemic lockdowns and social distancing rules.
However, these lures have begun to feel more like pressure, especially in large technology companies, where several rounds of job cuts have been announced since the end of the restrictions imposed due to the pandemic, writes DPA, quoted by BTA.
Earlier this month, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy warned his employees that it “probably won’t happen” if they refuse to work in the office at least three days a week.
More: They propose regulation of remote work in our country – what will the rules be?
Google, Meta and X have already told their employees to move away from working from home and into something closer to pre-pandemic activity.
Employees who are comfortable working from home most of the week, however, have some weapons at their disposal to fight back against pressure from their bosses.
The survey
According to the results of a study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) of the USA, “remote workers ‘produce’ less than half the greenhouse gas emissions of office workers”.
This is due to “factors such as travel from suburbs to city centers and household energy use”, which affect how many people travel to and from work and how often.
More: 3 Benefits of Working from Home You Didn’t Know About
Employees who work “fully remotely” can contribute to a 54 percent reduction in greenhouse emissions per person, mostly because of less energy used for offices, said the experts, led by Cornell University engineer Yanqiu Tao.
However, while two to four days of telecommuting can lead to a “up to 29 percent” drop in emissions, limiting telecommuting to just one day a week can lower emissions by just 2 percent, according to the team, which includes Lunci Yan by Microsoft.
“A day of working from home is not beneficial because of compensating factors,” the experts note.
