Mastercard has decided to take the company in a new direction in terms of their flexibility for the work/life balance. Up until now, the company has been rather flexible in letting employees determine which sort of hybrid schedule works best for them. This past week they've stated that as of January we will be 'expected' to do an 'average' of 3 days in office per week. The reasoning being to support the 'young' workers who we aren't being fair to.
The young Gen Z population will be the first employees to jump ship to another company who will allow better remote/flex opportunities.
#2 - Working 2 vs. 3 days in office as an example, provides no added benefit. Just because you are in the office more, does not ensure that more work is getting done, or that work related 'collaboration' is happening, or that there is any extra sense of urgency.
#3 - Traveling to work extra days per week only takes away from productivity - most have commutes to the office, based on where the offices are located. So now you have to consider an extra 2-3 hours of sitting in your car, when you could be using those hours working remotely. A lot of teams are global, meaning that you aren't even sitting in the same office as many of your coworkers to begin with.
#4 - The company is very invested in its environmental footprint with new ESG initiatives - however, adding more commuting days would seemingly add to carbon emissions output.
#5 - The company continues to profit quarter over quarter, with productivity at a high. And that was during the time where employees had been working off of their own schedule and working from where they feel is best for them in this new day and age. If a job can be done fully remotely, there shouldn't be a reason to require people back in the office 3 days a week, specifically.
