Instead of attacking remote work, GOP should look to small business as the model

Small businesses are emerging as the champions of a flexible, adaptive work culture. This trend, however, seems to fly right past the radar of some — notably a cadre of House Republicans. Their recent critique of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) telework policies reveals a stark disconnect between political rhetoric and the ground realities of today’s business landscape.

House Republicans have taken aim at the SBA for its “extreme” telework policies, as if they were a post-pandemic relic. House Small Business Committee’s Chairman Roger Williams (R-Texas) and Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.) penned a letter lambasting the SBA for not toeing the line with a traditional in-person work strategy. And they specifically assert that small business owners lack the luxury of remote work: “our small business owners,” they write, “don’t have the luxury to work from home, and the SBA should be marching to the same tune.”

But this perspective overlooks a crucial fact: Flexibility and agility are not just buzzwords but the lifeblood of small enterprises, enabling them to pivot and adapt in response to ever-changing market demands.

These Republicans seem stuck on the assumption that remote work is a luxury out of reach for small businesses, but the data reveal a different narrative. According to the Q1 Scoop Flex Index, a staggering 74 percent of companies with fewer than 500 employees have adopted fully flexible work arrangements for remote-capable staff. This figure dramatically tapers as company size increases, with only 34 percent of businesses employing between 500 and 5,000 individuals maintaining such flexibility for remote-capable workers. The trend continues to decline with scale, dropping to 24 percent for organizations with 5,000 to 25,000 employees, and a mere 15 percent for those with more than 25,000 employees.

The congressmen’s critique of the SBA’s telework policies rests on the assumption that remote work is a luxury of big business, which small businesses, the backbone of the American economy, cannot afford. As the data above show, that assumption is false.

Nor is it the only pertinent data pointing to the same reality. For example, according to the Glassdoor 2024 Workplace Trends report, small to mid-sized companies are not just keeping pace but in fact setting the standard for flexible work arrangements.

This shift is driven not by whim but by the intrinsic value that small businesses place on close-knit communities and the well-being of their workforces. As Glassdoor notes, “both access to and satisfaction with work-from-home benefits have fallen in 2023 for the largest companies while continuing to rise for small- to medium-sized businesses. Remote jobs have become much scarcer, but they have hardly disappeared. They continue to thrive at mid-sized and small companies.”

Finally, Nucleus Commercial Finance’s research throws light on an additional compelling reason behind the shift towards remote work: economic pragmatism. With confidence levels in the economy waning among small and medium enterprises, remote work provides a strategic response to inflation, rising operational costs, and the precarious dance of cash flow management. An overwhelming 79 percent of surveyed small and medium-sized businesses are leveraging telework to curtail expenses. This underscores the role of flexible work models as a bulwark against economic turbulence.

The irony in these House Republicans’ stance is palpable. In their zeal to advocate for a “return to normal,” they overlook the advantages of dynamism and resilience that small businesses have gained by fully embracing remote and flexible work arrangements. These enterprises have not just adapted to the new work culture; they are thriving within it, crafting innovative solutions to navigate a post-pandemic world, and setting a standard that larger businesses can only aspire to.

This debate transcends the confines of policy critiques and taps into a broader discourse on the future of work. The pandemic has irrevocably altered the landscape, democratizing access to flexible work arrangements. As large corporations grapple with the backlash against rigid office mandates, small businesses are quietly leading the charge towards a more adaptable, human-centric work culture.

The path forward demands a departure from entrenched positions and a genuine engagement with the evolving nature of work. The criticisms leveled at the SBA’s telework policies miss the forest for the trees, focusing on procedural adherence at the expense of understanding the substantive shifts in workplace dynamics.

The future belongs to those who embrace change, who recognize the value of flexibility not just as a strategy but as a principle. In this moment of profound transformation, small businesses stand as beacons of adaptability and innovation. Their embrace of flexible work models is not a deviation from the norm, but a herald of the new standard. Republicans, who style themselves as the party of small business, should be taking note.

Gleb Tsipursky serves as the CEO of the hybrid work consultancy Disaster Avoidance Experts and is the author of “Returning to the Office and Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams.“