Michael Abrams’ Post

The Office Rebound: So, gear up for the shift. The office landscape is changing its rhythm, but with adaptability and a positive outlook, you can rock this new era of work. The office is making a comeback, folks. Like a rockstar on a reunion tour, it's the place to be. By the end of 2024, 90% of companies with office digs plan to reunite their work bands on site. Remote work? That's hitting the B-sides, with fully remote jobs dropping from chart-topping 61.5% to a mere 11.5%. Clocking in at the office is becoming the norm. What was once a 1.1-day weekly cameo in 2021 has escalated to a 3.4-day main act in today's work scene. Big names like Disney and Starbucks are setting the rhythm with their own in-office schedules. But don't fret about losing all your freedom. Over half of the knowledge workforce still has the luxury to choose their work backdrop. Hybrid work—part home, part office—is up 27% since 2021, proving it's got staying power and benefits for innovation, culture, and even reducing burnout. Playing by the office rules is key. A whopping 83% of workplaces are keeping tabs on attendance, with some ready to drop the axe on no-shows. Companies like Amazon and Snap are making it clear: in-office presence tunes into promotions and collaboration. Yet, there's a silver lining. Despite the office encore, 58% still cherish their work-from-home solos. In response, companies are rolling out the red carpet with commuter benefits, catered meals, and childcare to sweeten the deal. This isn't just a one-hit wonder for businesses. Being in the office is seen as a boost to productivity, revenue, and culture. For you, it means more than just a desk and a coffee mug. It's about hitting the high notes in productivity, energy, and performance, not to mention tuning up your career and mental health chords. https://lnkd.in/eQqVd8pq #remotework #wha #workfromhotels #community #www.nohq.co.uk #www.andco.life #coworking #coworkingcommunity #coworkingspace #sharedoffice #officeshare #futureofwork #futureofworkplace #occupancy #rto #workplacestrategy

"Indeed, in 10 years, remote work is likely to increase..." - Nicholas Bloom, professor of economics at Stanford, NY Times Opinion in October 2023 > 8 years after Invisible Technologies Inc. was founded as a remote-only company. I'm glad mainstream press and academia have acknowledged the new era. Remote Work is a megatrend - the story is far from over. According to this article, 31% of knowledge work is remote. I'm confident that in 10 years, that percentage will increase to (over 40%?), and in 20 years, it will be bigger still (over 50%?). It wouldn't surprise me if the percentage keeps rising throughout the century until some peak at 80-90%. Knowledge work is the product of the human mind. Globalization and technology are making the market for minds accessible to any company anywhere. The advantages of getting the right minds for the job will far outweigh the advantages of colocating those minds. Investing in or owning traditional office space is a bad idea. Even WeWork-style co-working is an imitation of the 20th century model; certainly not how I imagine the office of the future... Hybrid is probably the worst of both worlds. The new world-office, the future of networked minds - for now, these exist in the imagination alone. "What is now proved was once only imagined." - William Blake

It's fascinating to me that the future of hybrid working is still such a hot topic, it's something I thought would have been settled by now and yet here we are. I've talked to many of our customers and it's very clear that there is not one perfect solution, with every business continuing to adjust their policies in an effort to strike the right balance between flexible solutions for their employees, while maximising collaboration and productivity. This recent article in the Canberra Times discusses employer's attitudes towards work-from-home practices in 2024 and highlights the positive aspect of flexibility that remote and hybrid work can offer. While looking at ways to encourage employees to embrace a hybrid way of working, the article has referenced a study commissioned by COS that found that 39 per cent of workers found it "more enjoyable" and "productive" to work from an office that had undergone a redesign, allowing for a new way of working in a post-pandemic world. Changes like a larger office space, more open-plan design and an increase in collaboration space have proved to be a success for many businesses asking remote workers to embrace a hybrid work environment. I'd love to know what you've tried to make the office more enticing. 

There is a lot to be said for creating safe, inclusive workplaces for all - and there isn't a one size fits all solution for work spaces. Whether you prefer the office, remote only or a hybrid solution of both, #LifeAtRealChem means you're in control of what makes you the most productive. Love this article and quotes from Wendy Carhart about our HART program and why it's so imperative that we listen to our #people. https://lnkd.in/gG8QyCh8

Employers are struggling to get employees back to the office. Employees are struggling to maintain flexibility at work. This is enough of a thing that new terms are being invented – “office peacocking”, “coffee badging”, and “polyworking”. Fact: employees will go to the office without being told they have to – when there is value in doing so. But why do employers want them to be there in the first place? Whatever the reason, assuming it isn’t “because we have all this unused and paid-for space” or “so we can see that you are actually working”, employers just need to communicate it and support it with an office designed accordingly. For example, if the reason is to foster collaboration, make sure the office is actually the best place for that. If teams are distributed across multiple locations, it probably isn’t.  If the office layout doesn’t provide appropriate collaboration spaces, it probably isn’t. #hybridwork #hybridworkstrategy #rto

Companies considering compelling workers back to the office need to seriously consider the ramifications of that in a marketplace where many other employers are offering more flexible arrangements. Employees (often) have choices. The choice between a costly daily commute to an office with bad amenities and an ambient temperature you don't control, versus the comfort and privacy of one's home, is an easy choice to make for many workers. A common thought of leaders seeking to compel workers back into the office grind is that they gain some level of "innovativeness" through the chance encounters and conversations people have in office spaces. This is an evidence-based idea, but the research substantiating this is dated. What we know from studies largely did not compare working in an office to all the alternatives we have today through technology. I'd ask business leaders to critically assess whether more innovation could come from the diversity of a global, remote workforce than from the watercooler conversations of people who all live within 30 miles of a set of physical office spaces. This is not to say that there isn't value to the in-person experience--there certainly is. But any healthy, diverse workforce comes with different personal situations, preferences, family dynamics, and needs. If innovation is the goal (let alone retaining knowledge and talent), I'd recommend making work arrangements more--certainly not less--flexible. Doing so opens jobs up to people traditionally excluded from office work and brings new voices to the table. #workfromanywhere #worklifebalance #worklifeintegration https://lnkd.in/eawrAbg3

New Post: Where in the World Are People Back in the Office? The researchers of the remote-work study believe cultural norms are also at play in return-to-work levels. Plenty of American workers said they felt comfortable asking their managers for more flexibility, or even telling them that they would quit without it.When Laura Zimm, a public defender in Duluth, Minn., was called back to the office last year, she immediately came down with Covid. She worked from home during and after her sickness, and eventually decided with her manager that she would stay permanently remote, which Ms. Zimm preferred and which gave her manager more flexibility with office space.At Microsoft, the return-to-office process has often included “team agreements,” in which managers meet with employees to discuss hybrid work preferences.In parts of Europe, unions and other worker associations have helped shape return-to-office policies. At many German firms, for example, employee-elected councils negotiated with managers on the details of hybrid work.“We needed to find a solution that would work for all of our employees, whether in software development, finance or on the shop floor,” said Julia Bangerth, head of human resources at Datev, a software company in Nuremberg that allows every team to set its own return-to-office expectations.And the choices that individual employers make are not isolated. In areas of the world where remote or hybrid work has become a norm, employers with strict return-to-office policies worry about retaining talent, said Mark Ein, chairman of the workplace security firm Kastle, which has tracked American office occupancy levels with its “Back to Work Barometer.”“Business leaders as a group have wanted people to come back in much more profound ways,” Mr. Ein said. “It really is the labor market’s competitive pressures and some cultural norms that have prevented it.”“The desire to get people back among business managers is nearly universal,” he added. “It’s the ability to do it that varies across countries.” David Shawn

If your workers don't want to come into the office, you might not be prioritizing the right features... Despite the rise in remote work since the pandemic, the office remains a key facet of many workplaces. Sixty-six percent of workers still use an office space at least once a month, according to a summary of the latest Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes from WFH Research group, co-founded by Stanford economist Nick Bloom. And hybrid work is now "2.1 times more common than fully-remote work among full-time employees." And with the right incentives, employers might elevate office enthusiasm. Here are the top three office features that employees value, in my latest for Inc. Magazine: #remote #hybrid #office #culture #workplace https://lnkd.in/gMYE2fSC

ENJOY HIS CHALLENGE - "Five-Day Office Week Is Dead - Working from home is here to stay. I can prove it with data — lots and lots of data showing that returning to the office (R.T.O.) is D.O.A." - Nick Bloom, Stanford Professor, Department of Economics https://lnkd.in/gqfCpdj7 "A telling data point is the number tracking how many Americans swiped and tapped electronic cards to gain entry into their offices. This month, occupancy rates were at 50 percent of February 2020 levels. That is shocking — only half as many days are spent in the office compared with prepandemic times. That number has flatlined not only in office buildings in San Francisco and New York but also in workplaces in Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Dallas; Denver; and Philadelphia. Blue and red, inland and coastal, Northern and Southern workers who might have disagreed on pandemic-related behaviors like mask wearing and vaccine boosters have quietly united behind work-from-home habits throughout 2023. And at the end of the day, despite all the noise some business executives made to the contrary, remote work saves companies money. It cuts overhead, boosts productivity and is profitable. And what is profitable in a capitalist economy sticks. Thankfully, remote work also has major benefits for society, including improving the climate by cutting billions of miles of weekly commuting and supporting families by liberating parents’ time. We all should celebrate the resilience of our workers and the benefits of working from home. What about the news stories that companies like Zoom, whose videoconference product made it a star of remote work in the pandemic, are calling employees back to the office? The headlines could have read “Zoom confirms work-from-home three days a week for employees within 50 miles and five days for those outside 50 miles.” Change isn’t easy. Some downtowns will need to reinvent themselves. But rarely as an economist do I see a change so profoundly positive for the majority of America’s businesses and workers. We should support the working-from-home revolution that has finally yielded a win-win-win. Companies, employees and society all benefit. Typically, reforms involve trade-offs, with some groups winning and other groups losing. Remote work has been good for almost everyone involved. We should support this golden moment and lay the five-day-office-week movement to rest." - Steve

Big changes ahead! By 2024, 90% of companies seem to be bringing back office work, shifting away from full-time remote setups. Key reasons for this shift: - Enhanced Collaboration: Offices boost face-to-face teamwork. - Stronger Company Culture: Shared spaces foster better employee engagement. - Increased Productivity: Office environments reduce distractions. - Professional Development: Offices offer networking and growth opportunities. - Better Work-Life Balance: Office work helps separate personal and professional life. The future? A hybrid model blending in-office and remote work, providing flexibility and balance. To adapt, businesses are exploring a 4-day working week, incentives like extra pay and benefits for in-office participation and much more. At Interoffices, we're ready with flexible, hybrid-friendly spaces in Brussels and Antwerp, perfect for evolving work needs. Office work is evolving, and our workspace solutions are here to help! #OfficeReturn #HybridWork #FutureOfWork #Interoffices https://lnkd.in/dGQNtidZ