For new hires, remote work brings challenges
Many employers are conscious of the need to help new workers feel welcome
It was “hard to figure out ... when was appropriate to tell my bosses that I was done for the night, or when I should take lunch, and how long I should take lunch for.” Maya Goldman A 23-year-old health reporter based in Washington, D.C.
LONDON – Rebekah Ingram’s remote internship has come with a series of unexpected challenges: She lacks a proper office setup, her mother often calls for her while she works and her dog barks during video calls.
Her situation will sound familiar to anyone who has worked from home during the coronavirus pandemic. The difference for Ingram is that she, like many other young people who started jobs in the past 18 months, hasn’t spent any time in a traditional office. She speculates that remote work is “way more informal.”
“It’s kind of trippy because ... you’re working but ... you’re in your own environment,” said the 22-year-old, who is interning at Like Minded Females Network, a global tech and entrepreneurship nonprofit based in London.
Many 2020 graduates left school and entered a world in turmoil, with limited job prospects. Some lost work opportunities as companies canceled internships or froze hiring altogether. As restrictions have eased in many places, jobs have become easier to find, but work remains far from normal.
Most of all, many young workers say they know they’re missing out when their office is the four walls of their bedroom. They wish they had more chances for everyday social interactions with their colleagues, both to build camaraderie and to find mentors.
Sohini Sengupta, 22, had an easy transition to remote work because she was used to doing it at school, but she feels she lacks a sense of community at her job.
“When I started working, I took a look at my workplace’s website and I could see photos of them taking trips together, enjoying themselves at the pool table at the office ... something I had no chance to experience,” said Sengupta, who lives in Calcutta, India, and is working as a production trainee at India Today, a media outlet based in New Delhi.
Annabel Redgate, 25, a public relations account executive at PR agency TANK in Nottingham, England, began her current job in February. When pandemic-related restrictions began lifting a few months ago, she started to reach out to colleagues to meet for drinks after work. Now TANK has begun a staggered return to the office, and it’s the social atmosphere she’s most looking forward to.
“PR is a very personal industry, so I’m excited for the atmosphere in the office,” she said.
For Maya Goldman, a 23-year old health reporter based in Washington, D.C., beginning her career remotely has meant struggling to set boundaries for herself, a process she figures she would have seen modeled by her bosses if she had been working in the office.
It was “hard to figure out ... when was appropriate to tell my bosses that I was done for the night, or when I should take lunch, and how long I should take lunch for,” Goldman said.
Many employers are conscious of the need to help new remote workers feel welcome.
At 9 a.m. every morning, employees at Trevelino/Keller, a marketing firm in Atlanta, participate in “Spotify at 9,” where they all play the same song and
talk about it on Slack. They’ve also held book clubs and watched TED talks virtually.
It’s part of an effort to make sure “while you’re waking up every day in your first career remotely, you feel like you’re part of a company and you’re part of our culture,” said Dean Trevelino, co-founder of the firm.
Liza Streiff, CEO at Knopman Marks Financial Training, a financial education company in New York, recently held a barbecue at her place, the first in-person event for the company since the pandemic.
Many of her employees were meeting in person for the first time. Two two of the youngest workers – an intern and another worker who recently joined full-time following an internship – told Streiff “how much this meant to them.”
Companies are also helping employees take advantage of mentoring opportunities they may feel they’re missing out on.
Trevelino/Keller, Like Minded Females Network, and Knopman Marks have all implemented buddy programs during the pandemic, pairing new hires with more senior employees they can turn to for advice and help navigating their companies.
Not all new employees feel they’re missing out by working remotely. Many have found it easier to juggle work and life when they don’t have to commute to an office every day.
For Matthew Toale, a marketing apprentice at Find Your Flex, a U.Kbased job agency, the pandemic shift to remote work had another benefit – it made networking more comfortable. As an introvert, he struggled at events and has been far more successful at online networking.
Networking online “is a lot easier for me than jumping in headfirst into a face-to-face conversation,” he said.