Business Casual: Looking Forward to the Post-Pandemic Office Landscape

 

Amid stay at home orders due to the COVID-19 crisis, the daily work lives of people around the world were upended by social distancing, resulting in a large-scale transition to remote workplaces for employees not considered essential. The biggest challenge employers faced was implementing the technology to ensure seamless connectivity and business as usual, but many companies worried that the new remote work model would hinder productivity and their ability to effectively manage their employees working from home. However, once the remote technology investments were made, studies have indicated that during the pandemic, there was only a 1% reduction in work productivity, with more than 40% of workers preferring to continue working remotely full time in the future. Even so, as shelter-in-place orders gradually lift and businesses reopen, what will the future of the corporate office look like?

On this Business Casual snippet, hosts Daniel Litwin, Taylor Bagley and Tyler Kern assess the impact the pandemic has made on what just a few months ago was considered the modern workplace (open, shared, cubicle-less collaboration spaces), and as health concerns linger, how companies who’ve now experienced the benefits of the telecommuting work model are planning to go forward. Litwin, Kern, and Bagley discuss the following possibilities in the post-pandemic workplace:

Will other companies follow Twitter’s example in extending the remote workplace through the end of the year or even indefinitely?
Which positions and/or departments necessitate an in-office setting?
Are staggered shifts and alternate in-office workdays, as well as digital sensors and a return of the cubicle the answer for those companies that require their employees to return to the office?
Is a remote work environment more attractive in hiring real talent, even in high-rent, more expensive regions?

Keeping you informed of the newest trends and the hottest topics in B2B, tune into the Business Casual podcast each Wednesday and Friday. And for the latest thought leadership, news and event coverage across B2B, be sure to check out our industry pages.

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