As we finally emerge from the worst of the pandemic (we hope), many of us will be spending more time in the office. However, while it is good to reconnect with colleagues in person again, some things will probably never be quite the same. For many companies, the purpose of the office had changed in 2022.
Reports that the office would become surplus to requirements have been greatly exaggerated, as the BBC explains. The way we use the office is changing however. Up to 80% of businesses are now adopting a hybrid work model, where employees are in the office two or three days a week, and work from home the rest of the time.
This means that the office is more of a social space, with less focus on the actual day-to-day that can be done anywhere, and more emphasis on collaboration and meetings. Reports show that most workers still want to see each other in person sometimes, for that higher quality of social interaction that only takes place when people are together.
James O’Flaherty of Adtrak says: “Before it was, ‘I go to the office, because that’s what I do to work’. Now, we want it to be more like, ‘I’m going into the office today because today is the day I see people’. We’re trying to use that day in the office to be more collaborative, get some face-to-face time and really reignite the culture we’ve missed being remote.”
There will be a greater focus on the health and wellbeing of employees when they do come into the office. Breakout spaces with fresh supplies of drinking water, access to green outside spaces, and less rigid layouts are now a high priority at many workplaces, for example.
The office is evolving to cater for the more agile workforces of the future, but it is a place that is firmly here to stay for a long time to come.
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