A company abolishes remote work to save costs. But the employees are fighting against the employer’s plans. With surprising consequences: A quarter of the workforce resigns and strikes are shaking the company.
Remote work or telecommuting were considered important alternatives to the office, especially during the Corona pandemic, and many companies temporarily relied on remote work for their employees. But now, many are returning to the old structures and abolishing remote work again. Many employees are even willing to make significant financial sacrifices for remote work.
At a Spanish energy company, remote work now has particularly strong effects: here, remote work has been completely abolished, but many employees do not want to stay anymore. This has significant consequences for productivity. The French magazine Jeuxvideo.com reports on this.
Strikes and Resignations After the Abolition of Remote Work
Which company is it about? Holaluz is a Spanish company specializing in energy marketing. In 2024, Holaluz was close to bankruptcy and had to save money. For this reason, the company decided to return to a 100% presence model, arguing that remote work was incompatible with the situation. They referred to an “internal assessment of the functioning of telecommuting”, but did not provide the data from the evaluation. Many employees feel more productive in remote work than in the office anyway.
This radical decision had unexpected consequences: the resignation of a quarter of its employees. In addition to the resignations, the abolition of telecommuting triggered an indefinite strike initiated by the unions UGT and CGT. The employees protested against the fundamental change in their working conditions and demanded the retention of telecommuting. Now the focus is on finding a compromise within the company.
What is a problem for many? The lack of dialogue between the company and employees. Especially from the employees’ side, the lack of dialogue and respect for the staff is criticized. The company made its decision unilaterally and did not discuss it with the employees. This is now causing internal conflicts and numerous resignations.
The CEO of an IT company now forced an employee to return to the office. But the “employee” got back at his boss by using a legal trick. You can read the entire story directly with us on MeinMMO: Employee is forced by the boss to return to the office – The boss gives in, shortly after has his moment of triumph
