Another week, another ‘Wave’ ???

5 news items from the world of work and workplace that you can digest in 5 minutes.

This week:

1. Countries embracing the four-day week
2. The standout trends of 2022
3. City bosses are losing the battle with hybrid working

Four-day week: 2022 has seen a shift towards embracing this new work pattern, but which countries have adopted it and how’s it going so far? UK companies that ran a six-month trial hailed the experiment "extremely successful"; Spain launched a pilot project in December; a new bill in support came into force in Belgium; and strong interest has been seen by the US and Canada. "The goal is to give people and companies more freedom to arrange their work time," said Belgian prime minister, Alexander De Croo . Read Full Article.

Actively Ignoring: City bosses are losing the battle with hybrid working, reports Financial News . Non-profit group Women in Banking and Finance - UK and the 英国伦敦政治经济学院 interviewed workers from BlackRock , 花旗 , 瑞信 and J.P. 摩根 , and found that many have been ignoring rules on the number of days they’re asked to be in the office. “The only day I can guarantee a full office is if there are pizzas,” said Steve Butler , chief executive at Punter Southall Aspire . "It creates a problem for my real estate because I’ve got quiet days and then busy days." Perhaps that’s what happens when you actively ignore your employees? Read Full Article.

2022 Trends: Research Live asked a cross-section of the market research industry what the standout trends of 2022 were: A sense of permanent crisis; establishing hybrid work models; and a shift in thinking about the Metaverse emerged. Nick Baker, chief research officer at Savanta said on hybrid working: “How do you do something that never really existed on a mass scale before? What are the great bits and the watch outs? How does it impact different people in completely divergent ways? What does it mean for teams and culture? The thing that is totally clear is no-one has it right yet and we all need to evolve, listen to people we work with and adapt as we do so!” Read Full Article.

Looking Forwards: What does the workplace of 2023 look like? Hybrid is here to say, the 9-5 will die out, and offices will continue to look a lot different, according to Claire Dutton at Poly . “The office should be a magnet, not a mandate. But businesses own or rent office real estate, and they want to utilize that real estate, so they want to make sure they’re actually bringing people back into the office. But if you’re going to do that, then what you need to do is actually utilize your spaces a little differently.” Read Full Article.

Reasons for Returning: A recession in 2023 could see remote workers return to the office, reports Reuters . A booming economy and labor shortages have given workers more say, but a recession might take some of that away. “It's not going to be so easy to give up your job. That will probably mean that people are less resistant to the requirement they are back in the office at least three days a week - which is where it feels like it is headed.” Read Full Article.

Happy holidays! We’ll be back on Thursday, January 5th with the first Wave of 2023.