Bradford S. Bell

Professor in strategic human resources and director of ILR’s Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies

Bradford Bell is a professor in strategic human resources and director of Cornell’s Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies. He says the cooling of the job market has created an opportunity for employers to push back against working from home.

Bell says:  

“Employees may be less likely to resist these initiatives or to exit when their job options in the external market are more limited. But what happens when the job market turns again in favor of employees? Those unhappy with the change may then look for other opportunities. This, combined with the fact that many employers have reaped benefits from their remote work programs, such as lower real estate costs and improved talent, leads me to expect that hybrid work arrangements will remain more prevalent than full-time in office work going forward.

“In many organizations, the opportunity to work remotely, at least some of the time, has become part of the psychological contract between employees and employers. When employers change their policies, employees see this as a breach of the psychological contract and this is why we see protests and mass turnover in some situations. So, while employers can go back, it is not without its costs.

“Tech was an early adopter of remote work arrangements and currently has the highest prevalence of employees working from home along with finance and professional/business services. If the RTO policy at Amazon turns out to be an outlier in their industry, they may find it harder to compete for talent who want more flexibility and have options elsewhere to get it.”