Need for offices: North Bay businesses weigh productivity of telecommuting against cost of distancing
While Redwood Credit Union has continued to operate its branches during the coronavirus pandemic, it has brought back only 28% of the roughly 385 employees who work at the Santa Rosa headquarters since the county shelter-at-home orders began in mid-March to slow the outbreak.
The financial institution has found out some of what Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and other large companies about remote work during the pandemic and how it is shaping up to be the way such knowledge-based workforces operate in the future.
While Redwood Credit Union has continued to operate its branches during the coronavirus pandemic, it has brought back only 28% of the roughly 385 employees who work at the Santa Rosa headquarters.
The financial institution has found out some of what Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and other large companies about remote work during the pandemic and how it is shaping up to be the way such knowledge-based workforces operate in the future.
About 15% of the credit union’s largely call center employees continued to work from the Cleveland Avenue main office because they didn’t have a robust enough internet connection or they didn’t have a right home work environment, according to Tony Hildeshiem, chief administrative officer. The company provided secure laptops to the remote workers but put requirements on the physical space, that it be quiet and private enough for sensitive customer conversations.
On June 15 another 13% of the central office workers — around 50 people — returned to the headquarters. Because less foot traffic at the branches, allowed to remain open to the public essential business operations during the county health orders, Redwood assigned some of those workers to reduce the wait time for customer support calls.
“Some found working from home to be not as fun and as exciting as they thought it would be,” Hildesheim said, noting that some felt working from home to be more stressful than from the office. (See “Research on remote work” below.)
But there’s no immediate hurry to bring back the rest of Redwood’s headquarters workforce, he said. First, collaboration and call center tech in place before the shelter order allowed for productivity to be sustained. As news of the pandemic grew in late February, Redwood quickly started integrating collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams and videoconferencing software.
Second, the institution’s management are concerned about a conjunction of public safety power shut-offs this fall, as happened across wide areas during wildfire season last year, at the same time as the feared second wave of the virus. If left in the dark, remote workers could be brought back in to work from the headquarters’ backup power system, but bringing them back during a retightening of the shelter order on nonessential office functions would be problematic, Hildesheim said.
Even as Redwood employees are starting to return to headquarters, the company has closed conference rooms and enforced virtual meetings even for in-office communications. And that’s something that likely will endure in company culture beyond the pandemic, Hilesheim said.
“We have a set of standards to live by, and one is not to visit people in their cubes and don’t go to meet in their offices. We plan to keep that practice going, so the need for meeting rooms will be reduced.”
One idea that’s being considered is to use the office meeting rooms, currently closed, for private videoconferences.
“This is an opportunity to rethink office space as blended virtual and in-person space,” Hildesheim said.
Even if Redwood is being cautious with hiring to support its member-customer growth, the institution is still moving forward with its Napa call center project, intended to help draw talent from Napa and Solano counties, Hildesheim said. Designed now for 500 employees, permits were just obtained to start pouring the foundation of the facility, and it is set to open in mid-2022.
Marin cloud software maker continues working remotely
Autodesk in Marin County spent the last few years helping customers in construction, manufacturing and media design install software on demand “in the cloud” and freeing worker to work remotely.
Then the pandemic forced hundreds of its own employees in its San Rafael headquarters and satellite offices to do the same.
Three months later, the firm is now looking at bring those workers back to their desks amid hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space.
“As we prepare to reopen Autodesk offices, our top priority continues to be the safety and well-being of our employees,” said Stacy Doyle, director of brand communications. “Because no two offices are alike, each Autodesk location will be individually evaluated for reopening. When an office reopens, we will start with essential employees and evaluate how things are going over time. We will also take additional safety precautions such as disinfecting workspaces, limiting visitors and adopting physical distancing practices.”
