Working from home was not cutting it for the two dozen or so employees at Corrigan Financial Inc. in Middletown.
It’s not that the work of financial planning and wealth management for hundreds of clients was difficult in remote mode during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology has made those tasks seamless enough without being in the office.
It was that the tasks were being done in isolation.
Daniel Corrigan, founder and principal of Corrigan Financial, says the sounds of employees chatting and laughing during lunch echoed through the firm’s offices before the pandemic. But during the public health crisis, the firm – located in a mixed-use plaza on Aquidneck Avenue – was silent and empty.
Soon enough, deep into the lockdowns, the employees were asking Corrigan to come back into the office.
And as soon as it was deemed safe for employees to return in 2021, they did – even when they had the chance to continue working from home. Now the firm continues to allow employees to work from home when they need to, but most find themselves more productive when embedded in the social aspects of the office and the company culture.
“There was a void here for sure,” Corrigan said, referring to the early days of the pandemic. “I don’t know how you could progress without the camaraderie.”
The situation may be more or less settled at Corrigan Financial, and at many more businesses small and large across Rhode Island and the country. But more than four years after the shutdown began, some companies are still grappling with a long-lasting remnant of the COVID-19 pandemic: finding the right mix of remote or hybrid workplace, or just returning to the office full time.
Indeed, such decisions are made with plenty in the balance – affecting company culture, recruiting and retention of employees, productivity, and even commercial real estate values.
The decision-making is playing out on a national level. At Amazon.com Inc., the country’s second-largest private employer, CEO Andy Jassy has ordered employees to return to Amazon offices five days a week starting in January. “We’ve observed that it’s easier for our teammates to learn, model, practice and strengthen our culture; collaborating, brainstorming and inventing are simpler and more effective,” Jassy wrote in a Sept. 16 memo.
The mandate has caused unrest among thousands of Amazon employees who hold desk jobs but have grown accustomed to working outside the office.
Other large companies have taken similar steps, at least partially.
In Rhode Island, CVS Health Corp. has been using a hybrid model at its Woonsocket headquarters since 2022. Under the policy, most of the office-based workers in Woonsocket go in on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and can work from home on Mondays and Fridays. The pharmacy retail giant has no plans to change.
“We remain committed to a hybrid work model, as it offers the flexibility that is important to our colleagues along with the enhanced connectedness and sense of culture that comes with time spent together in person,” said CVS spokesperson Michael DeAngelis.
Which companies are deciding to go remote, hybrid or a five-days-a-week return to the office? The numbers vary depending on the sector, with more than 1 out of every 4 companies in the technology, finance and accounting sectors offering a hybrid workplace, according to a national survey conducted in the second quarter of this year by global human resources firm Robert Half International Inc.
That rate drops to 1 in 10 companies offering a hybrid workplace in the health care sector.
One thing is certain: Workplace policies are still evolving.
Robert Half found that postings for fully in-office jobs dropped from 83% in the first quarter of 2023 to 69% a year later. Meanwhile, job advertisements for hybrid jobs doubled from 9% to 18% over the same period, and fully remote job postings went from 7% to 11%.
In Smithfield, health insurer Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island and its 600 employees are still fine-tuning their remote, hybrid and in-office plan.
Some departments, such as its member services center, have worked well remotely because most of their tasks are done by phone anyway, according to Peter Marino, Neighborhood Health CEO and president.
For other departments, assessments are still being made. Marino cites one unit related to sales that has been working remotely, but the insurer is considering bringing those employees back to the office because they may need to have more direct contact with colleagues.
“The culture continues to be very strong at Neighborhood,” Marino said. “Of course, it evolves because it takes a little bit more effort to make sure that we’re working together in ways that are new and different.”
[caption id="attachment_481920" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
WORK IN PROGRESS: Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island is still fine-tuning its remote, hybrid and in-office work plan. Pictured, CEO and President Peter Marino, sitting at the head of the table, meets with the leadership team at the health insurer’s Smithfield office, including, from left, Melissa Husband, chief of staff; David Burnett, chief growth officer; Karen Carlson, chief operating officer; Dr. Kristin Russell, chief medical officer; Talia Brookshire, chief diversity officer; and Michelle Sears, chief financial officer.
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO[/caption]
‘MADE IT WORK’
It’s clear that the hybrid work model is here to stay for many companies, in part because there are benefits to be had for both employees and employers.
Observers say those businesses that don’t offer hybrid options risk not attracting more skilled applicants and losing the talent they already have. (Earlier this year, Robert Half found that 3 out of 5 job seekers surveyed in the U.S. would prefer a hybrid role.)
In addition, companies that are accustomed to operating remotely at least part of the time are likely to be more agile and resilient against future disruptions such as a pandemic, some say.
At the same time, human resources specialists say, many companies have found that the flexibility of being able to work both in and out of the office has improved focus and productivity among workers in many cases.
“That’s really what this is rooted in – the new standard is really about flexibility and hybrid work and being able to meet people where they’re at and still get our jobs done,” said Pam Thornton, director of strategic human resources services for the Employer Association of New England.
Like many firms, Providence-based Union Studio Architecture & Community Design Inc. faced some decisions as the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic faded.
The architecture firm had moved to a larger location downtown, a 7,000-square-foot space on the second floor of an art deco building with hardwood floors and large windows overlooking Westminster Street. The company also has a small office in Philadelphia.
A task force of employees representing all levels of seniority was assembled to hash out the best “return to office” model for the 32 staff members, according to Dana Powers, director of operations.
After assessing what other companies were doing and getting feedback from the Union Studio staff, the task force came up with a plan. Staffers were welcome to report to the office five days, or they could work in the office two days.
One thing was not negotiable: All employees would be required to come to the office on Wednesdays, which serves as a chance for guaranteed face-to-face interactions and a time for internal meetings.
At first, it wasn’t easy.
Employees were used to huddling over blueprints and discussing pieces of a project together. But with videoconferencing, it was more difficult to get employees together with consultants and clients to assess designs.
“It felt like things took longer and with more effort when we were all remote,” Powers said. But “we made it work and we managed. I think we exceeded our own expectations.”
Powers acknowledges that a lack of “vitality” remains in the office on many days because most of the team works from home three days a week. But the hybrid model has gotten positive feedback – allowing for a better work-life balance – and the firm will likely never revert to its pre-pandemic ways.
“The flexibility is just so beneficial for people’s well-being and balancing the other parts of their lives,” Powers said.
Other companies feel differently.
According to Robert Half’s third-quarter analysis of job postings, while 13% of new jobs in Rhode Island are offering fully remote arrangements and 21% are hybrid, 66% are fully in-office positions.
Textron Inc., an aviation and aerospace conglomerate headquartered in Providence, encountered mixed reactions when it started requiring employees to return five days a week to the company’s 23-story office building in the city’s financial district.
That happened in 2021, and Textron spokesperson Michael Maynard acknowledges the company experienced a spate of worker turnover following that decision, as employees who didn’t want to give up remote work left for other jobs.
Still, Textron – which employs about 225 workers in the top 12 floors of the Providence building – held firm.
There’s an intangible benefit to having the full complement of workers inside the office tower, Maynard says. He often bumps into co-workers in the corridors – as many as a dozen times a day – and those chance encounters and the quick conversations frequently lead to important decisions or creative ideas on the spot.
Even now, some potential job recruits may be turned off by the five-days-a-week regime, but Maynard says those aren’t the type of workers Textron wants to hire anyway.
“We have no trouble filling spots,” he said. “We want people who want to be in the office. It’s just a more engaged workforce.”
[caption id="attachment_481921" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
AT HER POST: Sarah Vanderveer Lui, manager of investment operations at Corrigan Financial Inc. in Middletown, returned to the office in 2021 when the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic had passed. She was joined by most of the Corrigan staff.
PBN PHOTO/ARTISTIC IMAGES[/caption]
OPEN SPACE
This shift toward hybrid work models has certainly taken its toll on the local office real estate market.
Data published by Hayes & Sherry Real Estate Services shows that the overall office vacancy rate in Rhode Island stood at 13.5% in the second quarter of this year, up from 12.7% a year earlier and nearly double the 7.5% vacancy rate from the first quarter of 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic started.
In its second-quarter 2024 report on Rhode Island’s commercial market, Hayes & Sherry noted that the office vacancy rate in downtown Providence was at 19.8%, but added that the daytime population in the central business district is rising as “employers try to bring their people back to the office three or four days a week with varying degrees of success.
“We are seeing tenants make long-term decisions around their footprint needs, [and] this is often resulting in square foot reduction due to flexible workspace strategy,” the report said.
The effects of the hybrid model were visible on a recent workday at 75 Fountain St., a four-story brick office building in downtown Providence.
Global tech company Infosys Ltd. set up a 50,000-square-foot Design and Innovation Center on the ground floor in 2019 and pledged to hire as many as 1,000 workers in Rhode Island by 2023.
On a day in late October, however, only three people could be seen working on laptops at Infosys’ cavernous open-plan office. It’s unclear how many workers are based in the Providence center. Infosys did not respond to messages seeking comment. But in September, the R.I. Commerce Corp. was notified that $850,000 in tax credits and exemptions the state awarded Infosys in exchange for creating jobs had been terminated.
Elsewhere in the same building, corporate wellness tech firm Personify Health Inc., formerly Virgin Pulse, rents multiple floors for its headquarters, but workstations on the second and third floors were entirely empty and dark. Personify, which at one time had about 350 employees based in Providence, did not respond to messages.
Still, there aren’t as many vacancies as many might think, says Leeds Mitchell, president of MG Commercial Real Estate Services Inc. in Providence. The supply has been reduced as some office buildings have been converted to uses such as housing, and acquisitions by health care and academic institutions have helped to stabilize the market, real estate brokers say.
Prime real estate is still sought after.
In fact, Mitchell says, a product design company from northern Rhode Island looking to relocate to Providence recently was surprised to find only two office spaces that fit its needs. The company eventually signed on to one of those locations, Mitchell says.
And Hayes & Sherry reports that the 135,000-square-foot downtown office building left empty by Hasbro Inc. earlier this year has attracted “surprisingly strong” interest “largely attributed to its ‘best-in-class’ amenities and infrastructure.”
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
With employees spending more time working remotely, companies are finding that keeping them engaged in their tasks and plugged into the flow of the office is crucial to ensuring productivity, says Thornton of the Employer Association of New England.
“It’s going to be one of these things that continues to shift, but the employers who are going to have an easier time are the ones that are able to balance productivity with the needs and desires of their workforce,” Thornton said.
Elliott Richmond, an associate at Union Studio, says that before the pandemic, remote work was generally out of the question. The reason: architectural design is typically a collaborative process.
But once the pandemic forced everyone to stay home, work-arounds were quickly developed. Designs could be shared through videoconferencing for discussions, 3D digital models could be manipulated and drawings annotated right on the screen.
“A lot of architecture was originally based in drawing on a piece of paper, and we do a lot of that drawing now on a screen,” he said. “Virtual meetings sort of are pretty conducive to that.”
Richmond still travels to the office three days a week, a 45-minute commute each way. A full return to the office wouldn’t be a deal-breaker for him because he says he believes in the firm’s mission.
And he prefers in-person meetings with colleagues, in part because it’s easier to pick up on social cues that can make communicating easier.
That said, Richmond likes the flexibility of a hybrid arrangement, particularly with two young children at home, which allows him to be available for school pickups and personal appointments.
And this apparently hasn’t hurt output. In fact, the firm expanded during the pandemic as it developed a design niche in affordable housing and “pocket neighborhoods.”
“We’ve been very in demand, and really, everyone is so busy that … it’s hard for us to expand fast enough,” Richmond said.
At Neighborhood Health, Marino said the office is “firing on all cylinders again,” but it has taken time.
Years before the pandemic, the insurer was wrestling with the idea of having some departments work fully remote. A group of seven to nine employees was formed to assess which units would work best remotely.
The committee allows employees to have a say in deciding which units should go remote. But it also keeps track of how they are doing through regular in-person meetings with leaders of those units.
“We’re still working with that process,” Marino said.
At Corrigan Financial, Daniel Corrigan has found a different way to keep his employees engaged: offering food.
The firm caters lunch each day, and employees often bring in pastries and baked goods to share with colleagues. Along with this, Corrigan says staff members go on regular ice cream runs for the office once or twice a month.
The nature of wealth management means people from investment and tax analysis often have to come together to make crucial decisions. But having a positive atmosphere in the office has boosted both morale and productivity, Corrigan says.
“I like to say people have fun working here,” Corrigan said. “The most important part of the business is people.”
