5 Work trends in the wake of the pandemic

By Karin van Laeren

There's nothing like a good crisis to jumpstart innovation. The sudden shift to remote working in 2020 brought about frantic pivots in many companies, and forced everyone to embrace new (and sometimes better) ways of working.

Here's what you can expect to see as you dip your toes into the working world.

New ways of connecting with colleagues

Remote working will never completely replace physical work spaces. But they could well enhance opportunities for connecting with colleagues. With new virtual office platforms popping up every other day, employees can connect and collaborate with their teammates in real time and not be constrained by physical distance.

On one such platform, Pesto, each virtual employee has an "office" with a door that can either be set to open or closed. There are various available chat rooms by default, like "Watercooler" and "Trivia", aimed at giving employees a place to get together and chat about non-work things. The idea is that all meetings (video, screen shares or just voice calls) take place via the platform, with the option that anyone else on the team can join or be pulled into a meeting as needed. Your status tells the team when you are off to walk the dog or buy ice cream, skipping the Whatsapp message that would normally be needed to signal this.

Employee monitoring (and potential privacy issues)

Trust is earned, and for many managers, it is difficult to trust employees without keeping an eye on them. Enter employee monitoring software, a controversial byproduct of remote and hybrid working. If you are a virtual employee, you might be expected to clock in and out, and share your real-time location with your boss during work hours.

Whilst many monitoring practices are appropriate and legal, others can become downright unethical. If it seems creepy, go ahead and check if it's legal – you should not have to, for example, give your boss access to your personal email or social media accounts. You should not be monitored after hours, and you ALWAYS have to give your informed permission to be monitored (the POPI act helps with this one!).

So: before you accept a job offer, find out about monitoring. If a company uses fear to motivate their employees, you might be better off somewhere else.

Wellness programmes

Wellness programmes are becoming more common in the workplace, providing social support and strategies to create employees that are healthy, happy and more likely to stick around. Whilst some companies host yoga sessions that you can join from your living room, others even have permanent therapists on-site to support employees with issues like anxiety, depression, substance abuse and stress. A fairly new (and still rare) type of benefit comes in the form of wellness days – if you are feeling off, you can take a day or two off to recharge and get better. Why not ask about this before signing your contract?

Benefits and flexibility

Chances are that you will form part of a hybrid workforce, balancing working from home with working from the office. The lifestyle offers freedom and flexibility, and saves you on expensive transport costs, not to mention the time it frees up. Many employees also get reimbursed for the cost of running a home office – WiFi, printer ink, electricity, toilet paper and stationery costs can add up almost as quickly as petrol costs would have.

If you go this route and set up a dedicated working space in your home, have a look at remote working tax deductions as set out by SARS. Home office expenses like rent for the area, repairs, cleaning and electricity can be claimed back on your Income Tax Return (but only if you are the one paying for it).

Having employees working from home or from their local co-working spaces can help businesses reduce their CO 2 emissions and achieve a lower carbon footprint.

Sustainability

With the green transition at our doorstep, our offices, businesses and commutes are all becoming greener. Larger businesses are taking steps to become more sustainable; from incorporating green roofs, to reducing their plastic footprint, and using environmentally friendly promotional materials. Having employees working from home or from their local co-working spaces can help businesses reduce their CO 2 emissions and achieve a lower carbon footprint.