It was in Dagens Næringsliv on Thursday that Spekter leader Anne-Kari Bratten reached out to the home office trend. The scheme is perceived by us as very unconstructive.
In particular, she points out that Monday and Friday have become popular days. The suggestion is that the home office these days is part of an oval weekend, ie a kind of extra day off, and that the scheme is therefore abused.
She also claims that women are quickly caught up in housework.
It is welcome that she problematizes home office. This was not the first time she took the magazine from her mouth. Also in June, she was out with the same message and jargon.
But she is absolutely right, it is a scheme to which there are many challenges. We fully share her concern that the days are getting too long and that the distinctions between work and leisure are blurred. It is not a full-fledged working life if very many people are at home.
But we do not understand Bratten’s repeated ability and willingness to be condescending towards employees.
Why does she have to use examples like this: “It can be demanding that someone has to take the 20 bus to work, while others post a picture of lunch on the terrace on Instagram”?
Bratten is a fearless and often provocative type. It can be refreshing with people speaking in capital letters. But why is she so sleazy, and has so few actually well-founded arguments, when she chooses to challenge a home office scheme that is constantly seen by the health authorities as part of the solution in this time of crisis.
Less pressure on public transport has been a decisive factor in infection control.
We in Norway have rightly been able to beat ourselves up for the way we handled the pandemic. Now there is a clear tendency in general that the handling is politicized, and that the wording becomes harder. Bratten’s settlement with people’s use of home offices fits into this pattern.
Lack of trust is a very bad starting point if one is to find safe, sustainable forms of work in the future.
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