Another week, another ‘Wave’ ??

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

This week:

1. Remote work isn’t going away and executives know it
2. The 9-5 era is over
3. Coworking is more affordable than office leasing in 96% of US cities

Not Going Anywhere: Remote work isn’t going away and executives know it, reports Harvard Business Review . Many CEOs are publicly gearing up for yet another return-to-office push whilst? privately expecting remote work to keep on growing, according to the Survey of Business Uncertainty run by Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta , 美国芝加哥大学 and 美国斯坦福大学 . It makes sense: Employees like it, the technology is improving, and — at least for hybrid work — there seems to be no loss of productivity. “Perhaps the best evidence that #WFH is here to say - CEOs and CFOs say so,” said Stanford Professor, Nick Bloom . “Rather than focusing on one or two CEOs in the media headlines, let's focus on data from 500 samples across industries, firm sizes, ages and regions. They privately predict WFH will be higher in 5 years.” Read Full Article.

Office Playground: A playful office doesn’t have to look like a playground, reports Work Design Magazine . The office-as-playground trend, marked by whimsical features like indoor slides, themed meeting rooms, and candy-colored hammocks suspended from the ceiling, became the calling card of Silicon Valley start-up culture and tech companies. As their workers, and these companies grew up, however, this type of playful design became associated with gimmicks and manipulative efforts to keep employees at work longer. Play, with its documented positive effects on mental and physical wellbeing, can be a vital component of a thriving, creative, and engaged office culture. But there are subtle but effective ways to set a lighthearted tone and encourage creative engagement at work. “The best kind of play is intrinsically motivated. To encourage play without driving people up the wall, make sure employees know they can opt out if they choose.” Read Full Article.

No 9 til 5: The era of sitting at your desk from 9-5 is over, reports The Washington Post . As more companies tell American workers to return to their cubicles for two, three or even four days a week, one thing is clear: That 9 to 5 straitjacket is gone. Instead, employees are cashing in on an unspoken new flexibility: returning to the office on their own terms, coming in late after a workout, or leaving early to grab groceries or pick up their children before logging back on. While many employers are asking people to return to office, hardly any are tracking how long they stay. In most of the US, only half of office visits last six hours at a time, according to WiFi data from workplace occupancy analysts, Basking Automation . Before the pandemic, 84% of visits lasted six hours or more. “There is a gigantic dance going on. Companies want people back in the office, and employees are saying, ‘Okay, let me find the right balance,’” said professor Patricia Mokhtarian , who studies remote work at Georgia Institute of Technology . “Partial-day teleworking is fiendishly hard to measure but probably way bigger than we realize.” Read Full Article.

Higher Rates of Hybrid Work: Hybrid work surges 29% as firms embrace flexibility, reports The News Minute. A report by leading data and analytics firm, GlobalData Plc showed the global year-on-year increase in the April-June period occurred as “remote work” and “work from home” options declined. Hybrid working roles, which enable employees to balance their work hours between the office, a coworking or third space, and their homes, are “experiencing a growth as the world opens up” said GlobalData. Job postings related to hybrid work increased in industries such as travel and tourism, retail, and financial services increased in Q2. “Overall interest in hybrid roles has remained intact as companies seem to be trying to strike a balance between complying with return-to-office requirements and offering work flexibility” said Sriprada Sherla , Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData. Read Full Article.

Saving on Space: Coworking is more affordable than traditional office leasing in 96% of US cities, reports CoworkingCafe . The Yardi owned listing platform compared the prices of traditional office leases and coworking space subscriptions in 146 U.S. cities, using the hypothetical scenario of a team of 10 — taking the average price for 10 dedicated desks or 2,000 feet of leased office space projected over a one-year period. They found that coworking subscriptions cost less than half the price of an office lease in 17 U.S. cities. Broomfield and Denver took the lead - with a significant 49% and 38% discount respectively for coworking prices compared to traditional office leases. This saved $32,000 and $27,000 in average annual savings for a 10-strong team. Nationally, compared to office leasing, California dominated the top of the list with 10 cities in the top 20 with the biggest discounts in coworking subscription prices. Read Full Article.