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WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
FLEXIBILITY’S BREAKING POINT - From amped-up amenities (Personal trainers! Free food! Naptimes? Uh… showers?) to special accommodations for parents of young children, law firms are pulling out all the stops to ease the transition back to the office after a year-and-a-half away. But even these perks and policies, paired with more flexible hybrid work arrangements, may be failing to address the trauma attorneys and staff experienced during the pandemic and the difficulty some are having with returning to in-person work. What’s more, law firms are battling extremely high levels of attrition just as some of their less traditional competitors fully embrace remaining remote. For those firms pushing forward with office reopenings, is making the workplace feel more homey a suitable substitute for actually letting people work from home (or from Starbucks? Or the beach)? As we explore in this week’s Law.com Trendspotter column, there’s evidence to suggest that for many attorneys, legal professionals and staff, the answer is no. I’m interested to hear your thoughts: Despite their current preference for hybrid work arrangements, do you anticipate more legal industry employers will ultimately decide to go fully remote or at least make office attendance completely optional? Either way, what, if anything, can law firms do in the meantime to make in-person work more worthwhile? Let me know at [email protected]
