The Covid-19 pandemic has fast forward the changes in the workplace and forced companies to adopt remote work on a massive scale. Looking ahead, it is obvious that the post-pandemic world will be characterized by a new model of work that will significantly differ from the pre-pandemic reality. New forms of work organization such as remote and hybrid work and the gig economy are changing the nature of work and workplaces, organizational culture, and the spatial organization of cities.
What was once a privilege for some employees and associated mainly with innovative technology companies, has become a common practice. A recent study by PwC revealed that 83% of the employers now consider that the transition to remote work has been effective for their organization. Some of the world’s largest companies like Twitter, Shopify and Dropbox have already embraced remote work as the new norm and have declared it as a permanent policy. Some of the companies that have come up with innovative models include Google, Ford, and Citigroup which have come up with the hybrid models where some of the employees work from home while others work from the office.
This change is being felt in both the employers and employees in the society. For organizations, remote work means reduced expenses on office rental and access to talents from around the world. According to a study done by Global Workplace Analytics, a typical employer can save about $11,000 per half-time telecommuter per year. For employees, remote work means more flexibility, better work-life balance, and the possibility to reside in any location not necessarily related to their work.
Nevertheless, there are certain difficulties that arise when working remotely. Most organizations face challenges with regards to the enforcement of company culture, collaboration, and remote working. Some of the problems include work-life balance, loneliness, and career advancement in a remote working environment. There are also fears that remote work may affect innovation and creativity as these are known to be enhanced by serendipitous face-to-face meetings.
The new hybrid work model is becoming more and more popular as it tries to find the best of both worlds between remote work and in-office collaboration. However, the integration of the effective hybrid models is not easy and it involves several factors such as time table, space and technological support.
While the remote work is on the rise, we still observe the growth of the gig economy. The freelance and contract employment, which is enabled by digital platforms, is emerging as a new model within the labor market. Upwork’s research revealed that 36% of the American workforce was freelance in 2020, compared to 35% in 2019. This trend is fueled by the workers’ preference for flexible working arrangements and the need of companies to have a flexible workforce for project-based work.
The gig economy provides more flexibility and variety in the work that is available to the workers. For companies, it offers the advantage of getting skilled professionals without the need of hiring them permanently and also the flexibility of increasing or decreasing the size of workforce as per the need of the business. However, it also throws into question issues to do with employment, remunerations, and the welfare of employees. This new form of work is still relatively new and governments are struggling with how to best regulate it as evidenced by the ongoing discussion about the employment status of ride-hailing and delivery app workers.
This change in work arrangement is also affecting the society in general in terms of remote and gig work. It’s transformation of urbanization, with some people suggesting that there will be a reduction in the major city centers and an increase in what is being referred to as ‘Zoom towns’ which are small cities that are likely to attract remote workers. It is also impacting the commercial real estate markets, particularly the office markets where vacancy rates have increased in many of the world’s major cities.
The future of work is expected to be more flexible than the current one with more diverse forms of work. We’re shifting from the standard model of working in an office, 9 to 5, to a range of possibilities, including fully remote, hybrid, flexible hours, and gig work. This change is being facilitated by the development in the technological aspects such as the cloud computing, collaboration tools and cybersecurity.
With work increasing being done remotely, there are new tools and platforms emerging that are specifically designed for hybrid work. These include virtual reality meeting rooms to Artificial Intelligent based productivity tools. There is also increasing concern on how to simulate the chance meetings of physical offices in a virtual setup.
This is because the nature of work is also evolving and this is putting pressure on management practices. The traditional approaches to supervision and performance management are not very useful in the remote or the gig work model. As organisations are shifting towards distributed work models, they are struggling to find new ways of how to build effective teams and manage employees.
Education and skills development is also another area that has undergone a lot of transformation. Technological advancement and the new paradigm of work that is characterized by more fluid working arrangements are therefore enhancing the need for lifelong learning. It is now possible to find more and more people taking their courses online, gaining micro-credentials, and being hired based on skills they possess.
There are several policy questions that emerge as we move through this shift including those to do with workers, technology, and cities. It is therefore important that everyone is able to access remote work opportunities and that the issue of digital divide is well addressed to avoid worsening the inequality gap.
The future of work is still evolving and it is expected that there will be continued trial and error as organisations and employees discover the most effective ways of working. One thing that is evident is that the future of work is flexible, technology integrated, and inclusive of a diverse workforce. To thrive in this new context, organizations will need to learn how to be more innovative and flexible, and to rethink many of the conventional principles that underpin the management of work.
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