Companies continue to encourage homework

The call from the Public Health Agency has been the same throughout the corona pandemic: work from home if you can. DN’s tour of some of Stockholm’s largest employers shows that they continue with restrictions, but allow office work for those who, for various reasons, find it difficult to work from home.

The news that the corona virus is now spreading more and more, especially in the Stockholm area, therefore it has no greater importance for the operation of companies.

In Sweco Sweden employs a total of around 6,000 people and since March most of them work from home. The exceptions apply to those who have jobs with special requirements or those who have limited conditions at home.

– If you need to be in the office, there is that possibility, but that decision must be made in dialogue with the immediate manager, says Sofie Sidoli, Sweco Sweden press manager.

Plans have always been for Sweco employees to be encouraged to work from home at least until the turn of the year. As the company has around 50 offices in Sweden and assignments in around 70 countries, they are already used to digital work.

– We have an established digital structure where before the crown we have had many meetings via Skype, so for us the adjustments have worked well, says Sofie Sidoli.

Neither does SEB now it is changing its restrictions. Today, about 35 percent of employees work from home and, since March, all non-business-critical trips have been canceled.

– We have taken note of warnings from authorities that the crown appears to be rising again in Stockholm, and we are closely monitoring developments around the pandemic, says Niklas Magnusson, SEB press officer.

He believes that internal surveys show that the task is working well.

– But we are naturally receptive and flexible in terms of the employment situation of all employees during these challenging times, says Niklas Magnusson.

In Postnords The Solna headquarters in Stockholm normally employs 700 people and guidelines for the tasks were also introduced there in early spring.

Among the administrative staff, about 100 percent worked from home for the first few months.

– Today there is the opportunity to work in the office, but then we have made sure that it can be done without risk of infection, says human resources manager Angelica Björkbom.

Despite this, most people choose to continue working from home. The fact that the spread of the infection is increasing, therefore, so far does not matter for the functioning of Postnord.

– We will review it monthly in the future, but most likely you work from home and office restrictions will apply until the turn of the year. But if something completely different happens, of course we will act after that, says Angelica Björkbom.

In the Swedish Public Employment Service From the beginning, there have been clear rules for both the central office and the local client offices in Stockholm: everyone who does not have a task that requires a local presence must stay home.

– We continue in the same assessment, as the Swedish Public Health Agency recommends that as much work as possible from home, says HR director Lena Hadad.

Over the past couple of weeks, however, the authority has let its guard down a bit and allows a limited number to come to the central office, regardless of whether their job requires it or not.

– We have received signals that there are some who, for work environment reasons, would like to remain in the workplace even if their job does not require it, says Lena Hadad.

It’s often about what the home situation is like, he says.

– For example, what does the partner work with, if the children go to school or what do you think you need. It’s very individual, she says.

Read more: Tegnell: Continue working at home this fall