Analysis of Employees' Reactions of Returning to Office Work

Reference: The Economist

On an online forum, numerous employees complain about their employers due to the new policy requiring them to return to the office for work. Some of the employees indicated they would resign rather than comply with the policy.

• numerous：眾多的、大量的（形容詞）
• due to：由於、因為（介系詞片語）
• indicate：顯示、表明（動詞）
• resign：辭職、放棄（動詞）
• comply with：遵守、服從（動詞片語）

A recent global survey by KPMG, another professional-services firm, found that four-fifths of company bosses expect a return to the office five days a week within three years.

• survey：調查（KPMG 進行的一項全球性調查）
• firm：公司、企業（KPMG 是一家專業服務公司）
• return：回歸、返回（公司老闆預期員工在三年內每週五天回到辦公室）

Forcing employees to return to the office often frustrates staff. A Gartner survey found that a third of executives and a fifth of other employees would quit if required to work on-site. For some companies, this may be the goal, as many tech firms and consultancies overhired during the pandemic boom. Encouraging voluntary departures could reduce severance costs, though it risks losing talented employees to competitors.

• executive：主管、高階管理人員（名詞）
• on-site：在現場、在辦公室（形容詞/副詞）
• consultancy：顧問公司、諮詢服務（名詞）
• overhire：超額僱用（名詞/動詞）
• departure：離職、離開（名詞）
• severance：遣散費、解雇補償（名詞）
• competitor：競爭者、競爭對手（名詞）

There is less evidence that allowing employees to work from home a few days a week in a hybrid setup has a negative impact on their performance. However, many bosses are fret that hybrid work will undermine their company's culture, as new employees fail to absorb it and existing ones forget it.

• evidence：證據、跡象（名詞）
• hybrid：混合的、混合模式的（形容詞）
• setup：設置、安排（名詞）
• impact：影響、衝擊（名詞）
• fret：擔心、煩惱（動詞）
• undermine：削弱、損害（動詞）
• existing：現有的、目前的（形容詞）

Investors have not yet formed a definitive opinion. A study found that the stringency of these measures had no significant impact on the performance of the firms' shares compared to their peers. However, if the author is correct, this situation may soon change.

• form：形成、產生（動詞）
• definite：明確的、確定的（形容詞）
• stringency：嚴格、嚴厲（名詞）
• measure：措施、手段（名詞）
• significant：顯著的、重要的（形容詞）
• performance：表現、績效（名詞）
• share：股份、股票（名詞）
• peer：同儕、同業（名詞）