Black workers prefer remote work over the workplace to avoid microaggressions and racism according to a recent report from The Los Angeles Times.
As workers continue to return to the office following the end of the coronavirus pandemic emergency, some Black employees, the LA Times claimed, are reluctant to return.
"Patients at the hospital sometimes gave him funny looks when he came to check their room’s Wi-Fi, recalled [LeRon] Barton, who is Black, and staff members questioned his competence. Working remotely during the pandemic showed him a whole different lifestyle: no commute, more time with his family and a break from the onslaught of microaggressions and other racist behavior he’d had to endure," the article stated.
It continued, "It’s a sentiment expressed by many Black workers and other people of color who found that remote work lessened the racism they faced on the job."
The Los Angeles Times also quoted an anonymous paralegal who preferred remote work to "focus better" on being themselves.
"As a Black employee and someone who is neurodivergent, it’s just better for me…I’m able to be more productive. I’m able to focus better. I get so much more work done here in my own space where I’m able to be who I am and think," the paralegal said.
The article also quoted career experts and coaches who noted that Black employees "have more frequently emphasized that continuing to work from home allowed them to avoid office politics."
"Workplace politics and discrimination can make the office an undesirable place to be," the Los Angeles Times summarized.
The report further observed that "[e]liminating remote options can also hurt companies’ ability to recruit a diverse workforce," because remote positions allow companies to "hire people living in geographic areas that are more diverse than the communities around their headquarters."
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"Companies have to recognize that if they really want to meet their commitments to diversity and inclusion, one of the best levers they can pull for that is remote work," Andrew McCaskill, a career expert with LinkedIn, told the publication.
For future efforts to return employees to the workplace, companies will need to "give fewer opportunities for microaggressions" to compete with remote work.
"Professionals that have the opportunity to be in these remote environments and not experience microaggressions at work or not do as much code-switching or all of those things have now said, ‘Oh, that was great for my mental health’ or, ‘It helped me be a little more authentic at work,’… And a lot of employees and workers just don’t want to give that up," McCaskill said.
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President Biden has told his administration to "aggressively execute" a plan to have federal workers return to the office. The plan is reportedly to have federal workers come into the office again starting this fall.
"We are returning to in-person work because it is critical to the well-being of our teams and will enable us to deliver better results for the American people," White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told officials. "As we look towards the fall, and with the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, your agencies will be implementing increases in the amount of in-person work for your team. This is a priority of the President — and I am looking to each of you to aggressively execute this shift in September and October."
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