Canada’s work-from-home boom was a little too popular and has resulted in flight from big cities to more affordable suburbs. Now the governments and their agencies across Canada are facing pressure to bring workers back to the office. Canada Post’s non-operational staff in major cities are the latest being ordered back to the office for a minimum number of days per week. This is part of a larger response to corporate and political pressure to anchor workers to pricey downtown cores and prevent the hollowing out, as more people flee the city for greener (and more affordable) pastures.
Canada Post Office Staff Ordered Back To The Office Next Month
Canada Post will soon require workers to appear a minimum number of days in office starting next month. Back when the pandemic started, the agency implemented a flexible “hybrid work” model for its non-operational staff. These are essentially office workers whose presence isn’t regularly required on-site.
A hybrid model technically requires an on-site presence but the in-office component doesn’t appear to have been clarified or rigidly enforced. As a result, it was easy to interpret this as the “new normal” policymakers pitched, where people are judged on the quality of work produced, rather than the number of hours they can be physically inspected by their employer. Nope.
“We have since reassessed our practice and updated our approach to create a truly hybrid workplace,” explained Valérie Chartrand, a spokesperson for Canada Post when reached for comment.
Adding, “As such, starting October 15, 2024, all Canada Post employees in non-operational groups – with a work location in Ottawa, Toronto or other major centres – will be expected to work from their official work location a minimum of two days a week.”
Canada Hopes To Reverse The Hollowing Out of Pricey Downtowns, & Reverse Flight With Anchors
Canada Post is amongst the many government employers suddenly rolling out “prescribed minimums.” These set out a minimum number of days that an employee is required to appear in the office, as well as a strategy to audit the time spent. It’s often presented as a way to build community and improve productivity, but there’s a problem with that narrative. There’s often no other planning involved—employees don’t have to show up on the same day and it’s not clear how boosting productivity occurs by simply being on-site. In fact, with office workers, studies show the exact opposite.
The decision to return office workers is part of a broader move from federal and provincial governments. It follows corporate and political pressure trying to reverse the hollowing out of downtown cores, as economic activity and households moved from pricey downtown cores to distant suburbs.
Two to three days in office aren’t enough to build an office culture. However, it is enough to anchor employees to these pricey cities and prevent flight. That can have a big impact on demand distribution, returning a premium to big city cores and obliterating the newfound market boom that smaller cities have seen.
