By: Michael Lima
Since the pandemic in 2020, Canadians have been forced to adapt to a new way of work to mitigate the spread of covid-19. As restrictions loosened, the remote work phase certainly hadn’t.
We are nearing the end of 2022 and the data displaying Canada’s preference is here.
The chart is based on statistics from December 2021 until now (November 2022). The results show a drastically different ratio between the two subjects. This is in terms of Google search trends, and not using Canada's preferences between the two.
However, I have linked the idea of these two factors being connected. Throughout speaking to a dozen working-class citizens, I have also concluded that my findings also point in the same direction as the statistics to be displayed.
Through a sum of findings, the most intriguing piece of information may come as a surprise to many. Even at the lowest point of case numbers and infections throughout the pandemic, Employees nationwide had expressed that they would like to continue working remotely.
It is no doubt that remote work has its perks. Although, the former option, working in the office/workplace, may still have the edge.
- "in March 2021, around five million Canadian employees were working remotely. This accounts for over 30 percent of Canadian workers." - Statista Research Dpt.
Despite a staggering 30 percent of Canadians opting to keep their work at home, a baffling 78 percent have been vocal about continuing remote work. In a survey conducted by Benefits Canada, they detailed that job satisfaction is most important to employees across Canada. The main factors behind this would be benefits like work/life balance. Something that remote work eliminates.
Hybrid Schedule
Therefore, a hybrid schedule has been proposed by approximately 25 percent of Canadian employees. Many workplaces that are opposed have taken this method into serious consideration, having their employees at home partially.
My interviews have seemed to favor this method heavily in the video segment. Through commute, comfortability, flexibility, and plenty of other conditions that would make work more enjoyable, a hybrid schedule might just be the new norm.
It has been made apparent that this wouldn’t just play to employees' benefit. Employers, too. With a union in your workplace being given a choice to work in any way they are most comfortable, this can build a very strong work environment. Critical for any employer. Especially those who seek employee satisfaction and a positive outlook on their company.
Data Deep Diver
- A choropleth map illustrating the remote job search ratio from every province across Canada.
This interactive visual illustrates the urgency across the nation within the last 30 days. I chose the time span to show how desperate some employees have become for a little more flexibility from their employers. A concept explored within the video. The higher populated provinces would have much higher search results. An even greater variety if you were to take major cities into account.
However, it is not just people in major cities who are struggling to find a balance within their work, home life, and health.
Mask Off…?
Safety plays a massive role in the decision to go back into the office or not. The initial reason the entire globe had switched to remote learning was to combat against covid-19. Just recently, it had felt like adapting to life without a virus was edging closer than before.
Suddenly, health protocols and mandates are soon to be reinstated.
Could this rise the percentage of employees who prefer the luxury of their own home?
"Although no individual layer of protection is perfect, when used consistently and together, vaccine plus layers can provide excellent protection against COVID-19 as well as other infectious diseases we may encounter," - Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada. Courtesy of CTV News.
As the graphic can vouch for itself, many working-class citizens are unable. Whether the restrictions to stave off covid-19 are keeping people home, or obligating them to be in the office, a choice does not seem available to most.
Having to “go with the flow” is uncertain, and it is clear that productivity is not the issue when workers are at home.
The unemployment rate may seem unclear. This is strictly a percentage of Canadians and Americans alike who are deemed unemployed with no specifics involved (firings, unable to keep services, and so forth..).
The Final Verdict
Throughout the entire pandemic, whether or not we consider it over, this has been no easy task. Job opportunities lost or ceased, Pay & income deducted or increased, it seems there will never be a set-in-stone method to get your work done. All signs point to productivity along with safety, but the conversation surrounding this topic makes it seem as if one shall stand, and one shall fall.
Employees across Canada are more than capable of operating in a life where both/all methods of work (remote, in-person & hybrid) are actively functioning and allowing people to not only provide their services at a more productive pace but a more comfortable one. The ideas mentioned throughout the entire piece have been covered throughout the video segment, which follows.
Susan Zumpano, a trades analyst for Acosta Canada, has had her fair share of back and forth between remote work, in the office amidst the height of the pandemic, and a hybrid work schedule. Explaining what it’s like having to constantly adapt every few months, and her preference.
Her mother, Dina Zumpano, has been one of the unlucky few/thousands who could not continue with their work remotely because of being unable to translate.
A seamstress, her clientele, was all within her shop. As you could imagine, the pandemic had left an impact like no other.
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