Pyjama bottoms crew, listen up: In 2022 we'll still be at home
- Reference: 1624447807
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/06/23/gartner_wfh_report/
- Source link:
In a study, the analyst group said 47 per cent of knowledge workers would be working remotely come 2022, which is up from 27 per cent in 2019. Meanwhile, 31 per cent of all workers will be plying their trade remotely next year, more than doubling from 14 per cent in 2019.
In its 2021 Digital Worker Experience Survey of 10,080 employees across nine countries, Gartner found preference of employees for a "hybrid workplace" meaning around 70 per cent of employees work at least some time remotely, preferring two to four days in different locations outside the main office - which is how Reg readers [1]want to mix up their working week too.
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Report co-author and Gartner research director Ranjit Atwal told us that would mean some head-scratching from businesses hoping employees can make the most of their time in the office. While people might be OK doing the bulk of the "day job" at home, they want to come into the office to do something different, he said.
[3]Hybrid working? Buckle in, there's no turning back as survey takers insist: You can't make us go back
[4]Just one in 5 Googlers plan to swerve the office permanently after COVID-19
[5]Salesforce: Forget the ping-pong and snacks, the 9-to-5 working day is just so 2019, it's over and done with
[6]Back to the office with you: 'Perhaps 5 days is too much family time' – Workday CEO
"It comes down to the collaboration organisations want us to do: these are kind of the icing-on-the-cake activities that will push the organisation forward. They need to be a little bit more structured about that. People say we do most of our collaboration by the watercooler, which is true to some extent. But they're probably spending 5 per cent of their time like that and 90 per cent of everything else is pretty structured. It's kind of reengineering processes and making a much more optimal workplace."
No rest for the wicked - we mean you, IT
What does that mean? Well, weaving collaboration into projects and capturing the output on IT systems. Meanwhile, IT departments will be left supporting a significant increase in home workers, with a spread of understanding about what plugs in where and how to change settings.
In Gartner's view, though, there is hope that home workers have by necessity increased their "digital dexterity" during the pandemic ensuring their increased number do not create a commensurate burden on the IT department.
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"Where they need support, they can find online and in chat. And then the phone calls are for really desperate situations," Atwal said.
Gartner's view of home working is reflected in the tech industry. Salesforce, for example, has introduced extensive flexible working with [9]the majority of staff able to spend some time WFH .
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Hardware firm Dell said it expects [11]60 per cent of 165,000 global employees to mix up their working environment, and Fujitsu confirmed it is shuttering [12]50 per cent of its real estate in Japan.
Workday, among others, has taken a more conservative view. CEO Aneel Bhusri [13]said he was "a big believer that we're going to be back in the office" earlier this year. And just one in five Googlers anticipate avoiding their employer's office [14]permanently .
One research paper in the Journal of Applied Psychology claimed a daily commute can [15]dent an employee's productivity . Other surveys indicate that work-life-balance has gone out of the window since the pandemic with the lines between [16]personal and work time blurred , and some staff want to return to way things used to be.
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On a lighter note, going back into the office will mean that, for some at least, they'll no longer be able to [18]work in PJs or in the buff .®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/19/home_work_report/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YNNanWtVc9wrF4a0VhRHaQAAAIQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/03/hybrid_working_survey/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/06/google_retuen_to_office/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/10/salesforce_wfh/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/18/workday_ceo_says_oracle_way/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YNNanWtVc9wrF4a0VhRHaQAAAIQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YNNanWtVc9wrF4a0VhRHaQAAAIQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/10/salesforce_wfh/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YNNanWtVc9wrF4a0VhRHaQAAAIQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/28/dell_q2_2021_work_from_home/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/06/fujitsu_we_are_closing_50/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/24/workday_building_purchases/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/06/google_retuen_to_office/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/26/commute_work_psychologist_study/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/16/work_life_balance/
[17] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YNNanWtVc9wrF4a0VhRHaQAAAIQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/09/kaspersky_guilty_lockdown_pleasures/
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Thing of the past
yes, so hard to find flats with many rooms... until you realise that you yourself are part of the problem because you make more money per sqm investing in small flats rather than in large ones (easier to rent out, less problems when people moving out).
But what really grinds my gear is not necessarily the price of a multi-room flat, the maintenance that one needs to pay to go with it... for ever, even though one buys the apartment.
"Other surveys indicate that work-life-balance has gone out of the window since the pandemic with the lines between personal and work time blurred, and some staff want to return to way things used to be."
For me, WFH has been massively beneficial to my work-life balance, precisely because of how it's allowed the lines to not just blur but to be essentially invisible.
In before-Covid times, even if I finished work at 5pm on the dot, it'd still be at least 6pm before I got home and was able to start "family time", and it was rare that I'd be able to leave that early on a normal day - more usually I'd not get home until 7-8pm. And once I got home, there'd then be all the little tasks that needed to be done which would further eat into what little time I had left to spend with the family before they all started heading off to bed.
In contrast, WFH means I can "finish" (more accurately, pause) work earlier in the evening, get to spend more time with the family, and then seamlessly resume where I left off to take advantage of the quiet hours after they've all gone to bed and I'm able to put my night owl personality to good use. In addition, WFH also means that, during the day when I get up and walk away from the PC desk for a few minutes to stretch my legs and give my eyeballs a break, I can use that time to do those little tasks (loading the dishwasher, hanging out laundry, fixing a loose cabinet door hinge etc. etc.) so they aren't still on the to-do list later in the day.
Workday
"Workday, among others, has taken a more conservative view. CEO Aneel Bhusri said he was "a big believer that we're going to be back in the office" earlier this year".
They are still in startup mode of course they need that.
Re: Workday
""Workday, among others, has taken a more conservative view. CEO... " [emphasis mine]
A CEO. Playing conservative in regards to wanting to have workers in-house so as to be able to look over their shoulder at every possible second.
Tell me something new. Like maybe, the sun not coming up tomorrow.
The all-seeing eye of... Gartner
Just remember to keep your magic quadrant below the table.
Thing of the past
Work in offices was a thing because we didn't have a technology that enables remote working and not everyone could afford a computer nor employers wouldn't trust an employee with an expensive device.
We live in a completely different world now. Only problem is that we let rich funds exploit the housing market, so they were building flats with investors in mind rather than people living there, so many people don't have a dedicated area in their home where they could carry on working.
I think we may be looking at a hybrid situation, where employers will be renting out offices closer to workers or we may see more co-working spaces (shared with many companies) where employees would go instead of their company main office.