Howrising'returntooffice'callsmighteffectSCdifferentlythanotherstates

HireQuest CEO Rick Hermanns said companies today face a "trilemma" when facing down the decision to leave remote workers to continue working remote, move to a hybrid model, or mandate all workers return to the office.

"Employers have to choose," said Hermanns. "It's such a trial because there are advantages to each one."

Hermanns said there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution to the "trilemma," and stressed it's important for companies to tailor their approaches to their specific set of employees instead of mandating workers return to office for no discernable reason.

"Even this morning I was talking to a company where their return to work mandate was really mostly based on the two of the founders just wanting the people back," said Hermanns. "It wasn't really based on any data, any study. And I think that a lot of companies are sort of stumbling into decisions without really researching what works well and what doesn't work well."

"[Companies] want the perfect answer, but the perfect answer really doesn't exist because there are disparities in the type of work," said Hermanns. "You know, there are some types of work that lend themselves to remote work very easily."

South Carolina stands poised to navigate this ordeal better than some, according to Hermanns. He said that South Carolina's rate of in-office workforce members was high, primarily because of the economic makeup of the state.

Two of South Carolina's largest non-government economic sectors so far in 2024 are trade, transportation, and utilities and manufacturing. Even ahead of manufacturing are professional & business services, education & health services, and leisure and hospitality, which all fundamentally require in-person workers for the most part.

Hermanns said these economic factors coupled with the fact that a large portion of Palmetto State remote workers were already called back to the office in late 2020 and early 2021 could actually lead to a rise in remote work in the state, even if they don't work for companies based in South Carolina.

"They might be New Jersey-based or Illinois-based and sort of like, 'well, okay, I don't need a million dollar condo in suburban New York City," said Hermanns. "I can live in Summerville and pay a third of the price. And so I think that will drive rates up, not down."

While South Carolina companies stands poised to make it through the "trilemma" relatively unscathed for the time being, the country as a whole can't say the same.

According to the study, which cites USA Today data, more "white-collar", densely populated states have much higher remote work rates compared to South Carolina's 11.4%:

"At the end of the day, there's a lot at stake for the country economy based on this," said Hermanns. "And I just hope we get it right."