The knock-on Pandemic

As the owner of a Construction company, with a specific division focused on Paint and Waterproofing, I get called in to do quotes for various types of projects. Today I was asked to quote on "white boxing" an office.

For clarity, "White boxing" refers to the tenants responsibility to return their rented office space back into the same condition that they found it before they took occupation of the space. This may include the removal of drywalling, shopfronts, floor finishes, and usually always includes painting the entire space white to make it look fresh and clean for the Landlord to rent out the space again.

I was invited into a really large office space, where a relatively large company was leasing 1000+ square meters. This space included about 25 individual offices, 5 large boardrooms, a really funky staff kitchen-dining area, and a theatre sized Training Centre. Between all this, was open plan office space, where I estimated approximately 50-75 more desks were laid out in open-plan fashion.

The walls were vibrantly painted. The furniture was modern. The facilities looked niche and inviting. Yet there hung a atmosphere of sullenness and depression. In all this space, about 80% of the desks were empty. Nothing on them. Empty. A single lonely chair per desk. The other 20% of the desks had something on them revealing some evidence of life. But of that, I could probably count on two hands the amount of staff who were working in the office. And that included the receptionist, and the tea lady!

The office was located on the outskirts of Houghton Estate; in a pristine location for the work they do.

"Where are you guys moving to?" I asked, wondering why the company was relocating from what I presumed to be a perfect location.

"Work-from-home." was the 3 worded answer, to which no further explanation was needed.

It took me about 40 minutes to drive from this meeting to my next appointment, during which I was in deep thought about how terrible this actually is (to me that is). Here is an office space, that clearly showed signs of what once was a vibrant culture within the walls. A really funky staff common area where many cups of coffee, and lunches were shared. A state of the art Training Centre where hours of training in the industry was once done. And the powers that be, have opted to sacrifice this culture, for the purpose of not having to pay rent.

The few staff that were there, sat at there desks almost in a catatonic state; staring at their screens. A few staff members were sitting behind closed doors, evidently in an online meeting, either with other staff, or (heaven forbid) clients. However instead of being attentive to the meeting, most were engaged in other activities, one even reading a novel!

Work-From-Home (WFH) became the new norm for many Corporates post Covid-Pandemic. And it was a way in which the spread of the Virus was minimized between co-workers. But is it truly the way of the future? Most Corporates have adapted a Hybrid-Office Environment, where you alternate between WFH and Work-at-Office.

Most South Africans will know that there is a sense that our Economy is on the brink of collapse. Interest rates are at an all-time high; basic food is barely affordable for most of the population, and Petrol/Diesel is increasing so fast, that people are actively trying to cut back on travel costs. Professionals are emigrating to 1st world countries in masses.

It is believed by many that the economy is sustained by the private sector; yet we seem to be oblivious to how our new WFH culture has increasingly had a negative impact on our economy. Here's a small list of how- in no particular order, and by no means in any level of impact- the WFH movement has impacted the Economy :

• Salaries are kept low / not increased, because now the company is not compensating their staff for travel.
• Travel means that people are either buying petrol/Diesel to use their own vehicle, or paying for public transport.
• If you travel in your own car, your milage increases, leading to closer service intervals.
• Maintaining an office has large cost overheads to companies: Rent, Maintenance, Additional staff to support the office, Water, Lights, office equipment, office consumables etcetera.
• The Office Environment results in people gathering for lunches at small restaurants, or gathering after work on their way home.
• Many times a Work Environment would call for a work wardrobe, which increases sales of clothing, shoes, accessories, make-up, hair products, and the like.
• Some people will admittedly work more productively in their home environment, but the majority of people will be more productive in a collaborative, accountable environment, better matched to a Work-at-Office environment.

All the above, will result in the employee taking money out of their pocket, and putting it into the Economy. If the Economy is self sustained, then businesses will grow, salaries will increase, and the cost of living will stabilize.

I haven't even gone into the current sky-rocketing volumes of people who are suffering from depression, anxiety and stress... all mental health issues that is attributed to the WFH environment.

Families are suffering. The line between work and home has become blurred. The heightened mental health issues have knock on effects to the family life too. It became acceptable for an Employee to start working at midday, but then they need to "still get their full 8 hours in."

We are starting to see more and more large organizations recall their staff back to the office. Elon Musk allegedly told all the staff at twitter to return to the office, or lose your job. Recently, the company Zoom, which is the digital platform we all used to host our online meetings, has recalled all their staff back to the office.

I was always very vocal in my opinion about the WFH culture. I hated it, and I always believed it would be unsustainable. A few months ago I started thinking that maybe this thing could work... many companies have been doing it successfully since the pandemic.

But, having thought long and hard about the other side of the WFH culture, and how it is affecting our Economy, our Employees, and our Families- I am now of the solid opinion that the WFH environment is not sustainable or beneficial to the growth of an Economy. The private sector needs to realize that we cannot continue to lay the blame for the collapsing Economy solely at the governments feet (which is another hot topic best left for another time), and start to raise up their people. Bring the Employees back to the office. Bring back the Office Culture, the "Gees" that once gave Employees satisfaction in their jobs, and accountability to one another.

In the very near future, we are going to reach a point where companies are so heavily reliant on the WFH system, that they would not be able to afford to go back to the Office environment.

Heaven forbid we land up in a world where Working-From-the-Office becomes a luxury, afforded to few companies (!)