It’s work-life Jim, but not as we know it.
With millions now working from home in a bid to stem the spread of COVID-19, how will companies change the way we work, in the not so distant future?
Restricting non essential travel, increasing best practice for hygiene and working from home are now staple practices for businesses throughout the world. One minute you’re staring at a computer screen in an office and the next you’re told to ‘self isolate’, work from home and turfed out onto the street. That’s exactly what happened to an investment banker from HSBC who tested positive for Coronavirus. Global trade and commerce has been turned upside down and there are reports, South Korea’s central bank quarantined bank notes, putting them through a high heat process to try and stop the transmission of the virus.
It’s no longer business as usual, from Paris to California, the virus is forcing business to shut up shop or even close altogether. For bosses there’s a lot to think about; keeping their staff safe and doing whatever it takes to try and survive financially during unprecedented times.
Could working from home be the new normal?
A report by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Covid-19 forced 34%of Americans, who previously commuted to their place of business, to work from home. According to University of Chicago, the percentage of people who can work from home is also 34%. These numbers represent a huge shift in work culture with the previous amount of people regularly working from home only in the single digits.
Here are 5 ways workplaces could change:
- Office desk space
Home working will continue where possible but new challenges fall to companies on how to adapt workplaces. With call centres and other business with high volumes of staff previously following a ‘battery hen’ style working environment, we could see a reversal of this culture; as people won’t want to sit so close together. The commercial real estate company Cushman & Wakefield started the ‘6 feet Office Project’ with the ambition to make working environments safer and back to work sooner. - Closed plan offices
Glass boardrooms and large open offices has been the fashion for the past few decades but could Covid-19 reverse this interior trend? Perhaps a return to cubicle office layouts could offer a solution, hopefully without the 1950’s claustrophobia.
- More signs
Floor signs are popping up in Supermarkets and DIY stores, guiding customers on where to stand at safe distance to protect others. Companies might have to adopt a ‘one way’ approach to their floorspace, minimising transmission by encouraging flow, as adopted by many hospitals currently. - Technology
Contactless door entry and automatic doors might seem like something from Star Trek but they could become the new norm to lower the spread of viruses. As adopted by large department stores and supermarkets sliding doors offer lower exposure to germs. Video conferencing could also offer a popular way to brief staff working from home on new projects and decision making, but when it comes to building new relationships with clients the human approach can often make a real difference. As the saying goes ‘most big deals are made on the golf course’ – so perhaps a game, at a safe social distance, could be the way to do business rather than in the office. - Cleanliness
Hand sanitiser on every desk and corridor seems like an obvious addition to help reduce the spread of viruses. Could large commercial offices see a rise in cleaning staff, continually wiping surfaces, doors and desk spaces and not just the team who arrives at 5:30?
The elephant in the room boils down to finance. Can offices, universities and schools afford to redesign spaces in order to make the changes toward a working environment of the future? Co-working office spaces will also have to adapt to survive. Known for their communal areas and shared amenities like hot desks, where anyone can open a work station, heightened cleaning measures will have to be adopted. So for those of us returning to offices post lockdown, the place of business could be a lot different and hopefully safer.