FUTURE OF THE OFFICE
In 2020, companies around the world were forced to send their workforces home, prompting a disruption of traditional office life. The economic effect on city centres has been far-reaching. While a new normal is on the cards, there is a lot to be said for a return to the office. The rapid 2020 exodus from the office by the global workforce has had far-reaching implications. 2020 was a watershed year for employers. As offices emptied almost overnight, the devastating impact has been felt by city centres (and their landlords and tenants) the world over. A year into the forced experiment, chief executives are getting tetchy and getting ready to call it a day. Certainly, banking bosses have started calling their US and UK workers back. James Gorman, Morgan Stanley chief executive, reportedly told New York colleagues that bankers learned their craft at the office, not at home. “That’s where you build all the soft cues that go with having a successful career that aren’t just about Zoom presentations,” he said.1
UNWINDING THE EXPERIMENT
However, it’s clear that the office re-entry will prove trickier than last year’s abrupt exit, reports The Economist. “As vaccination rates rise … the work-from-home experiment is being unwound. But the speed of the unwinding and its scope has become a matter of hot debate among chief executives, and among them and their staff.” And the emergent strategies will shape the future of office work. There is evidence across many industries that people enjoy the flexibility of remote work – at least part of the time. A Prudential poll
of 2 000 adults revealed 87 % of those who worked from home wanted to continue doing so after restrictions eased, with 42 % declaring they would resign if asked to return to work full-time. Global research commissioned by software company Citrix, which included 500 SA respondents, revealed that for all the challenges posed by Covid-19, office workers reported improvements in their personal lives and careers as a result of working from home.2
OFFICE, HYBRID OR HOME
It’s most likely that for most large corporates around the world, the future is hybrid. Many companies – from consumer goods to technology – will never return to a five-days-a-week office pattern, while some might never again return to a central office. But the benefits of bringing teams together in a communal
1 Office, hybrid or home? Businesses ponder the future of work, The Guardian 18 June 2021 2 SA workers want remote work policies regulated by government, www.itweb.co.za 3 Life after Covid-19, Part 1, Flux Trends
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STATE OF CAPE TOWN CENTRAL CITY REPORT 2020
workplace is undeniable: it fosters collaboration and creative thinking, promotes camaraderie, builds corporate culture, and facilitates the training of young or new employees. It also counters the negative mental effects of working alone. The Citrix study revealed 31 % of respondents felt their mental health had worsened, and that a company culture that promoted physical wellbeing was important. Flux Trends predicts many office workers will increasingly discover that working from home comes with “its own set of challenges” and that it is more preferable to separate work from home.3 “What a lot of workers have discovered over the past year is that having the option to work remotely can be good, but not having the option to go to the office at all can make a job much harder,” says UK talent strategy consultant Natalie Douglass.
