To remote, or not to remote, that is the question. Companies and unions facing hybrid remotisation of work

While the effects of the remotisation of work during the pandemic have been largely explored in the literature, little has been written on how remote work is used in the post-pandemic phase. Moreover, although the literature has mainly focused on the effects of remote work on the organisation of labour and individual experiences, we argue that to understand the ongoing changes, it is necessary to analyse the organisational contexts in which these processes are taking place. In this regard, the perspective of trade unions is a valuable tool for comparing the experiences within different organisational contexts and reflecting on emerging challenges and opportunities. Based on empirical data collected in the metropolitan area of Milan, the paper explores the extent to which companies and trade unions are pushing to maintain the use of this working method or, rather, pressing to return to working on-site. It also identifies some factors that explain the different positions on the issue. Our analysis stresses that the prevailing working modality can be defined as «hybrid», as it combines both days of face-to-face work with others carried out remotely, which has many consequences for both companies’ and unions’ activities. In this phase of transition, trade unions find themselves tense between the desire of workers to continue working remotely at all costs and the awareness of the risks that remote work represents in terms of rights protection and bargaining capacities.