CLEVELAND — "You know what? I think I prefer the hybrid, because we were at home for a long time," Earl Darren Roberts says of his work structure.
Roberts is from Warrensville Heights and has worked in downtown Cleveland for decades. He's one of many with just a few days a week in the office on a hybrid schedule.
"It's a good mix, because you get the interaction with your co-workers, you can communicate with them over Zoom or Teams," he explained. "But sometimes, to get that cohesiveness, it's nice to have those in-person, face-to-face interactions when you're working with a team."
A recent business outlook survey by McDonald Hopkins — a Cleveland-based business advisory and advocacy law firm — looked at nearly 200 businesses, the majority of which are in financial and professional services. The survey found that the top challenges businesses are facing this year include hiring issues, pressure from inflation, and concerns over data breaches, but managing a hybrid workforce was at the top.
"It's still a real struggle, from the employer's side, to get employees to come back," Jim Boutrous admits. "Employees got used to that flexibility."
Boutrous is chair of McDonald Hopkins' labor and employment practice. He says hybrid is here to stay, and has become expected at this point.
Yet in the survey, while 77% of businesses claimed it helps them recruit and retain talent, it also comes with challenges.
"It is much more difficult — especially for those next employees moving up the ranks — to train them well, to indoctrinate them well into the culture of the company, to do that remotely as opposed to being in the same building day-to-day with somebody," Boutrous said.
He also pointed to questions about productivity.
"There is the abuse that occurs with that and the difficulty often times of monitoring employee work, hours, making sure that metrics are being met," he added.
The flexible work options could also have an impact on commercial real estate, with a number of office space for rent signs in downtown Cleveland. Some, like carpenter and business owner John Tate, say they prefer in-person work contributing to a bustling, vibrant downtown.
"We need people out here working and moving around, you know?" Tate said "That motivates people to keep going."