Dr. Gleb Tsipursky – The Office Whisperer
Nirit Cohen – WorkFutures
Angela Howard – Culture Expert
Drew Jones – Design & Innovation
Jonathan Price – CRE & Flex Expert
Looking towards the possibilities that 2021 holds, research indicates that the remote working trend will continue to shape how we work for the foreseeable future.
Prior to the pandemic, remote working was already seeing a slow increase. When lockdowns initially hit, the move to working from home was undoubtedly challenging for some.
However, this arrangement soon highlighted the fact that employees can get work done from anywhere.
Soon enough, Zoom meetings, Slack channels and balancing home and work responsibilities became the norm.
Major tech companies like Google, Apple and Twitter soon committed to long-term flexible workplace arrangements, staying ahead of the inevitable curve.
Unfortunately, the excitement of working in pajamas quickly wore off for some workers and many expressed feelings of isolation and loneliness without the office.
Additionally, remote workers that have had a sense of guilt and fear of losing their jobs led them to work overtime. This, of course, left many experiencing fatigue and burnout, which are detrimental to productivity levels.
According to a study from eWorkLife, people say they want a distinct boundary between work and home life. In an interesting approach, study lead Professor Anna Cox encouraged workers to do a pretend mini commute so they could maintain a better work-life balance.
In the future, we can expect that companies will do a better job of pushing workers to take time off, disconnect from their devices and offer them resources to truly achieve a healthier work-life balance.
