[ad_1]
Working at the kitchen table, video calling in the children’s room, telephoning in the bathroom – the house is increasingly becoming an office. Starting today, Monday, “employers will ensure that employees meet their work obligations from home.” That is what the ordinance that regulates the obligation to work from home says. So far there has only been one urgent recommendation.
However, the regulation leaves room for interpretation: the “type of activity” must make this possible, he says. And working from home should be “doable with reasonable effort.”
Many are now wondering: How great is the potential of companies? How many employees already work on your own four walls? And what is the use of duty exactly?
Almost one in two people work from home
Marc Peter (48) has the answer. He is the director of the competence center for digital transformation at the FHNW School of Business. “In more than 400,000 Swiss companies, employees could theoretically work partially or fully from home,” he says. Specifically, it estimates that 2.4 million workers sit in their own office. On your own desk. With your own notepad and bowl of muesli next to your work laptop.
Almost one in two employees is in the head office! Because the number of people employed in Switzerland is around 5.1 million. Employed persons are those of at least 15 years who have not yet retired.
The head office extrapolation is based on a representative survey of more than 500 SME heads. Peter also uses figures from the Federal Statistical Office for 2019.
Duty is of little use
Is the result correct? In any case, the employers’ association reaches a similar conclusion. According to chief economist Simon Wey (44), 2.1 million people now work from their own desks. Upward trend.
But the duty imposed by the Federal Council would only have a small effect, says Wey. “The increase derived from the home office obligation is a good 4 percentage points, which corresponds to around 180,000 employees who also work from home.”
The fact that the Federal Council tightened the screws and turned the urgent recommendation of the central office into a clear obligation went against the current of the employers’ association. They spoke out in favor of other measures beforehand, instead calling for technical solutions such as additional walls. Or organizational measures. For example, distances in the office should be increased and work shifts adjusted.
The home office will remain
It turned out differently, and now Switzerland is preparing its own coffee machine instead of drinking Nespresso at the office. For many, however, this has been a reality for months.
Both Peter of the FHNW and Wey of the employers’ association assume that companies in the industry with the highest proportions of homeworkers have adhered to their policies since the outbreak of the crisis. They constantly dropped off their employees at the head office. Examples are the Internet giant Google and many other large companies in the communications sector, large international companies or companies in the insurance and finance sectors.
FHNW expert Peter hopes the trend will continue even if the Federal Council loosen the bolts again one day. The home office has finally been established. And the number of those who work totally or partially at home will continue to increase. “In the medium and long term, the number of employees who work from home will more than double,” said the expert.
- All lockdown light resolutions in December will run for five weeks. This affects the closure of restaurants, as well as cultural, sports and leisure facilities.
- Closing stores that sell products that are not needed on a daily basis. Service providers such as hairdressers, post offices or banks must close at 7 pm
- Public and private meetings with a maximum of five.
- Home Office Obligation – This is an obligation whenever the home office is possible. People who are at special risk can, under certain circumstances, take a leave of absence.
- Stronger requirement of masks in the workplace: When working from home is not possible, masks should always be worn when there is more than one person in a room.
- More difficult requirements for mask dispensers – Now only doctors and psychotherapists can issue mask dispensers.
