This article was published on April 17, 2020

Office work will never feel the same after the coronavirus pandemic


Office work will never feel the same after the coronavirus pandemic Image by: Marc Mueller (edited)

Rewind three months

Up to this point, Ana had spent her career in a traditional office environment. Suddenly, her company launched a new customer service initiative and working remotely became a possibility.

“Working from home means I don’t have to go anywhere. It’s perfect! It gives me the freedom to do what I want and work still. This is the perfect job for me because the office is boring. In the 21st century you don’t have to be around people to communicate with them. You can use Skype; you can use Hangouts; you can use anything. You have a lot of opportunities!”

Ana’s expression as she talked to me was one of rapture, as though she had just met the love of her life. For the first time in months, she was positively glowing as she talked about work.

“I can’t go back to the way things were…not after having experienced this way of working.”

The old arguments

Contrast Ana’s perspective with that of her company’s baby boomer founder, whose views on remote working varied dramatically:

However, as millions of employees have been asked to work remotely due to Covid-19, this is no longer a debate

It’s a reality that every manager is going to have to face the minute it’s time to call employees back to their desks.

Our furry coworkers aren’t going to take this lying down — Source

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions. “— Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

So where do we go from here?

One place to look is recent company “call-backs” to glean what might happen in the coming weeks and months.

This article was originally written by Dave Smurthwaite for Better Marketing, a publication providing advice that works and covering digital and social media marketing, tools, and case studies. You can read the original piece here

Get the TNW newsletter

Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.

Also tagged with