The workplace of the knowledge economy office underwent a sudden shakeup over the last year or so. At its peak not long ago, the pre-vaccinated office workforce worked more from home than from the traditional office, about ten times the pre-pandemic rates. According to the University of Chicago, as of March 2021, 45% of employment services were still performed in home settings. This raises the question: will office work ever go back to the way it used to be with workers engaged in long hours away from family in bustling office buildings reached through heavy traffic? And if so, why?
Whether or not the covid pandemic has caused a paradigm shift in the way work is distributed in the long term has yet to be determined. It will certainly be one of the interesting trends to watch in the coming years. At present, a look at some of the indicators currently available, though sparse, seem to show some degree of change in the way the operation of work is carried out may be with us for the foreseeable future.
It is fair to assume that most management wishes to return to normal times, during which the managerial practices of which they were accused can be resumed. If there is going to be a more permanent realignment to include more flexibility, such as remote work activity, it probably won’t come willingly from supervisors. To dust off that old business expression from the 20th century, it will come from the grassroots.
A Microsoft WorkLab report from earlier this year reveals some relevant findings. Nearly three quarters of employees want an option to work remotely. Although remote work has its drawbacks, many workers have found that productivity can still be maintained through technological means in a comfortable environment with less stress and less burnout. According to this report, among office workers there has been a demand for a more permanent flexible, distributive, mixed or hybrid production model.
Older Generation Z and younger Millennials make up a cohort that can be informative here. Living and working from devices is second nature to them. It is reasonable to expect that the push for greater flexibility will come from them. If their resumes and LinkedIn profiles start to show more measurable accomplishments from remote work, they’re not just communicating that they can do it, but that they want to be hired for roles that honor those skills. Balancing productivity with wellbeing in the modern era will only grow as a necessary calibration and younger workers are likely to lead the way in the context of adaptable work styles.
Businesses do not need to be led into this kicking and screaming transformation. Signals are emerging among the C levels that show an acknowledgment of the likely changes to come. A Work Trend Index survey by Edelman Data & Intelligence reveals that 66% of business leaders are considering remodeling office space to allow for greater flexibility. The reasons are two. As hinted at above, the workforce seems to be increasingly desiring flexibility in the workplace. This could probably become an incentive to attract the necessary talent that does not want to be bound by traditional institutional rules. Additionally, companies are identifying some benefits as a result of the Covid-induced remote work experiment in terms of lower overhead, as reported by NPR, and increased productivity, as claimed by the Harvard Business Review.
Multiple variations of a hybrid model are likely to be established in the future, incorporating combinations of conventional office-focused requirements with increased distributed or remote work options for employees. While no one could reasonably have predicted that a congruence of modern communication technologies with a global pandemic would drive this trend, the result could ultimately be a boon for workers and their bosses. Let’s hope employers seriously consider these changes.