EMPLOYEES are in two minds over returning to a regular office schedule, which is now permitted depending upon vaccinations, as part of the national recovery plan.

They told The Malaysian Insight that companies should consult them first before deciding to end work from home (WFH) rules.

They added that almost 18 months of working from home has many pros and cons.

They said that one disadvantage of working from home is that they also have to work “extra hard” to look after their children but the good thing is that they are also home together, and are able to take breaks between meetings, like taking short naps, to regain their energy.

A banker, who wished to be known as Tisham, said employers should give workers the choice to work from home or return to the office, adding that he preferred to be able to do both

He said his office currently maintains a WFH rotation whereby only a certain number of employees are allowed into the office daily and only a few times a week.

“I think it’s more exhausting being at home than it is being at the office, especially for those who are raising small and young kids at home,” he said.

“Over the months, I have become used to not having break intervals like lunch hours etc, and I am now used to skipping breakfast and lunch,” he added.

Under the plan, the WFH scheme in phase 2 states is tiered according to a company’s vaccination rate.

Companies that have 80% of their employees vaccinated can work on site at 100% capacity; at 80% capacity if 60% are vaccinated, and at 60% capacity if 40% of staff are vaccinated.

Changes in work culture

Meanwhile, marketing director Shaza Nurmelina, 32, said she was looking forward to going back to the office because she has been working from home for the past year, and misses the office atmosphere.

“I like working from home because it gives me the freedom to set my own working time; for example, if I know that on a certain day I have a lot of work to do I can start working as early as 7am so that I can finish my work by 5pm and I don’t need to get ready for work so that saves a lot of time,” she said.

She said working from home also allowed her to take much-needed power naps after lunch, which made her more productive afterwards.

Shaza said she believed that many people have changed their working style while working from home.

Due to that, she suggested companies conduct a survey of employees to determine the changes that they would like to see around the office.

“The fact is companies cannot expect to go back to the old routine as the world has changed and lifestyles have changed too,” she said.

Another employee who did not want to be named said he would be prepared to go back to the office but how soon depends on his family commitments.

“For the time being, I would not be mentally prepared, leaving my wife to care for four children without any help,” said the performance marketing lead.

“If you do something continuously for this long, you are bound to get used to it. By now, people have probably entered a different lifestyle revolving around working from home,” said the 28 year-old.

He said working from home has not impacted his quality of work, but it does impact the communication process within teams and departments.

“My work mainly happens on a laptop or a computer screen, aside from the face-to-face meetings from time to time. So, I do not think working from home has impacted the quality of my work,” he said.

“If things can go back to the norm, they should. Just because we have had to do things in a certain way for some time, and have done it well, it does not mean the wheel needs to be reinvented,” he said.

“We don’t see schools deciding to go full time on study-from-home options or offering new flexibility based on Covid learning,” he added.

Get vaccinated first

Intan Shafinaz, 26, who works as a quality assurance executive, on the other hand, said while she was in two minds about returning to the office, she was mostly concerned about working in an environment where not all the employees are vaccinated.

She said she wants her company to ensure that all their staff are inoculated first before allowing them back into the office and to take action towards employees who refuse to be vaccinated.

“I would like the company to take extra care with hygiene and for employees not to make jokes if other staff in the office do not want to get close to them for fear of getting Covid.

“I would also like for the company to take it seriously when a staff member tells them that they are not feeling well,” she said. – September 21, 2021.