What could the future of employment look like?

During lockdown, I have been using my time productively and revisiting some of my old TV favourites. Both myself and my brother are big fans of The Office (UK and US) and while watching the “Business Trip” episode from the US version we got in to a conversation about what the future of employment could look like as we move through the COVID -19 pandemic. Slightly tedious link, I know; but I thought some of the points we discussed, although could be considered on the ridiculous side, may not be a million miles away…

WFH/flexible working/agile working has become more of the norm over the past few years in office based roles, that isn’t to say that it could not still be met with scrutiny and very much dependent on the agreement between the employer and employee. Outside of remote working, I can’t think of WFH program which would allow people to WFH on a permanent basis? Until now, where it has been a necessity to stay safe but also to allow companies to continue to trade. Twitter have already announced that staff can WFH permanently and other companies are following suit where you are not needed to be in the place of work full time. My brother is an electrical engineer, who is currently on furlough. He needs to be physically in his place of work and sometimes, he can have a more traditional view to the work place involving the whole “face time” and the need to be seen. But in times like these his take was very much more focused on results and to quote him directly “As long as they are working effectively, who cares where they are.”

Could one of the knock-on effects be increased trust between employers and employee? Will there be the same need for “face time?” Could we now see jobs where you are not required to be in the workspace now not having a specific location?

Remote/home working is not new, but with it becoming essential over the past few weeks could companies now need to prove why they need someone to be in the office or workspace? Could this even lead to companies being taken to employment tribunal based on “location discrimination?”

Obviously, this last point is very much on the extreme side but it did get us thinking about the implications if we did move to pure remote working where possible. Could this be detrimental to the socialisation of society moving forward? Appreciate at this time, the main point is to stay safe by self-isolating; but, having read numerous pieces on how face to face meetings will be a thing of the past is it not also important to remember the benefits face to face meetings bring? Per the Harvard Business Review, an in-person request is 34 times more successful than made via email.

That doesn’t mean that we have to put peoples’ safety at risk. Zoom, Skype, BlueJeans, Google Hangouts all offer face to face meeting capability which has allowed business to remain in contact both locally and globally. It was reported in March that Zooms daily users had grown to 200 million from a maximum of 10 million outlining the importance of technology during this time.

However, I must admit I have suffered with “Zoom Fatigue.” Having gone from one coffee a day to sometimes one before and after a video call to keep me awake! I don’t think it is just the fact of the “one off” call but also the volume of calls people are now doing a week or even a day. I still think there is a need for a sense of that person to person interaction and under the current 2D format I don’t think it is realistic to stay face to face meetings will be removed. But with a rapidly advancing technology space, I think there is the opportunity to create a work around.

To go one step further; in 2005, The US Travel Association reported that business travellers estimated that 28% of their current business would be lost if not for the benefit of face to face meetings. In our current time of closed borders, would those “business stay-homers” say video meetings are as successful and provide the same benefit? If we come back to The Office, would Michael Scott have achieved international expansion for Dunder Mifflin if he hadn’t travelled to Can-a-da?

But we are probably a long way off this so what are the alternatives? Do we think international travel will stop in the long-term? No, but I think it is safe to say it will change. I think there will be of course more caution but I think that will come with increased regulation. Employment medicals are nothing new but now could they become universal? From the business travel side, could we start to see medical examinations as part of the visa process? When speaking with my brother, we even discussed the possibility of having doctors positioned as Border Security Officers?

This last point may be more on the excessive but then made us think, what if we can’t even travel to the work? Jes Staley, Barclays CEO, recently stated that the Pandemic would be the end of large, city-based office. Again, we know change is ahead but does this really mean the end of a company office? From an employer perspective, is this helping in developing company culture? Will this be limiting to company output?

With the COVID situation, many companies have reduced down to a 4-day working week. Could this be the norm moving forward? In the UK, General Election last year, the Green Party campaigned for a 3-day weekend as part of their manifesto. Having now had this forced upon many companies could this now be more widely expected and would could be the implications for companies based on this? If we take it one stage further, the Gig Economy is not a new invention and if everyone has their own business idea but never get the time to do it due to work commitments. Could we see more people taking the plunge from wanting to work standard permanent contracts?

As a conversation based on a satirical comedy, we obviously went off on quite a few tangents (and a few beers) and so a lot of what we discussed could be seen on the more fanatical side. However, the one thing I think is safe to say is that life, not just working life is definitely going to change and we are going to enter a new era of what is expected of employers and employees alike.