After the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to be almost over in people's minds in the summer with low case numbers and available vaccination, the virus has Germany firmly in its grip again this winter. In other countries, too, the number of infections is rising rapidly again. This is due, among other things, to the decreasing vaccination effectiveness in combination with the delta variant, which requires a booster vaccination after five to six months, the still relatively high number of unvaccinated people and the appearance of new virus variants such as Omikron. Home office is therefore currently the safest solution for employees in almost all sectors.
Life after the pandemic.
Even if it still seems a long way off at the moment, we can already venture a glimpse of what life will be like after the pandemic. The fact is that the pre-pandemic lifestyle cannot be recreated. At least not in the way we were used to. The virus has forced us to leave our comfort zone and adapt to a new "normality".
Challenge Home Office in Pharma.
The pharmaceutical industry faces a double challenge. On the one hand, companies must prevent the spread of the virus to protect the physical and mental health of employees. On the other hand, pharmaceutical production is subject to much stricter conditions in order to deliver drugs on time and in the right quality. Managers in the pharmaceutical industry have to deal with this balancing act permanently in order to solve the dilemma.
One of the most important decisions is whether and how to continue the home office scheme introduced at the beginning of the pandemic.
According to the author's research, the pharmaceutical industry is leaning towards a hybrid model where employees stay in the home office but can return to the office when needed. Hybrid working allows for more flexible working while maintaining the importance of the office as a place for collaboration and personal interaction. However, this does not apply to all sectors: Production and laboratory activities are not affected by all regulations, as these activities cannot be managed and controlled from home.
Future variants of home office arrangements in Pharma*:
Regulations for Home Office in Pharma.
Bayer: "Around 40% of the Bayer workforce in Germany worked remotely during the pandemic. Bayer has organized a 'gradual' return to the office for these employees starting last summer, although only a maximum of 40% of jobs may be filled."
Roche: "Employees have the opportunity to spend 2-3 days working from home, while the rest is spent in the office."
Merck: "The Darmstadt-based pharmaceutical company describes itself as a pioneer of mobile working. This has already had an extremely positive effect during the first lockdown in spring 2020. At the same time, work in production and in the laboratories continues on site the whole time."
Sanofi: "Sanofi relies on a hybrid model with a tendency to work on site. Mobile working was already possible before the pandemic. However, it was not standard practice. Even though working from home worked well, the time had come when direct exchange on site was desired and sought again."
Boehringer Ingelheim: "Employees who are able to do their work well from home will continue to work from home. They can return to the office at the end of the home office obligation, but must always coordinate this closely with their line manager. In addition, the number of people who are allowed to be on site at the same time is still limited."
AbbVie, AstraZeneca, J&J and Bristol Myers Squibb: "Implementing a 'phased approach' for employees returning to the office."
GlaxoSmithKline: "GSK advises those who are able to work from home to continue to do so. Any changes to this guidance will be made gradually, in line with local health guidelines and country-specific government regulations."
Novartis: "In future, associates will be able to decide in consultation with their line managers whether they want to return to the office, work part-time or work from home entirely. Novartis calls this model 'Choice with responsibility'."
Amgen: "Amgen offers its 24,000 employees the opportunity to work from home. Employees are free to choose the way they work so that everyone can find their ideal workspace. Research and laboratory work can also be done remotely to a certain extent, of course with a sophisticated system behind it. Production work is currently (still) carried out by employees who cannot work from home. But we are also working on this. One possibility would be an automation system for production that can be controlled remotely by employees."
Eli Lilli: "Eli Lilli has already set itself the goal of getting a quarter of its employees back into the office by the beginning of June 2021. If the pandemic situation worsens again, they would pull the emergency brake, but the goal is to return to the office routine as much as possible. If employees are unable to come into the office for personal reasons, they can work from home. Furthermore, not all employees are classified equally. This means that some employees may spend more time in the office than others, depending on their role."
B. Braun: "B. Braun recently introduced a new company agreement, which has been in force since July 2021. It is called "flexible and mobile working" and regulates both office hours and the option of working from home."
Home Office in Pharma. Summary.
Literature.
- Liu (2020): 2021 forecast: 'We will not return to the old ways of working': Drug makers weigh in on returning to work, post-COVID-19 life, available at: https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/we-will-not-return-to-old-ways-working-drugmakers-weigh-returning-to-work-post-covid-life, retrieval date, 12.10.21
- Hessenschau (2021): Many Hessian companies want to work hybrid, available at:https://www.hessenschau.de/wirtschaft/ende-der-homeoffice-pflicht-viele-hessische-unternehmen-wollen-hybrid-arbeiten,testpflicht-ende-100.html, retrieval date 12.10.21
- SWR (2021): This is how employers in Rhineland-Palatinate are now dealing with the home office, available at:https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/homeofficepflicht-endet-100.html, retrieval date: 12.10.21
- .Reidel (2021): Novartis offers home office forever https://www.horizont.net/schweiz/nachrichten/new-work-novartis-bietet-home-office-fuer-immer-an-184532, date retrieved: 12.10.21
- HNA (2021): Homeoffice-Pflicht endet - Erfahrungen von Arbeitgebern im Altkreis Melsungen, https://www.hna.de/lokales/melsungen/melsungen-ort45520/wir-gefuehl-entsteht-langsamer-90843166.html, Abrufdatum: 12.10.21
- ePharmaInsider (2021): Office comeback to be expected in the pharmaceutical industry? https://www.epharmainsider.com/office-comeback-in-der-pharmabranche-zu-erwarten/, retrieval date: 12.10.21
