With the widespread focus on Covid-19 and its impact on the world over the past few months it almost seems pointless to talk about anything else.
Our current reality is that we’re navigating the new normal.
It’s all that everyone seems to talk about.
In the commercial interior design industry our focus has been on helping clients get ‘office ready’ as fast as possible. The question many companies are asking is “how long will we have to live and work this way?”. Truthfully, nobody knows.
The reality is, we must create safe environments for staff and visitors to work in efficiently.
The real question is: how far do we have to go with this new normal office environment?
Will this social distancing thing become unnecessary in a year? Two years (fingers crossed for the former!) Or will this affect our lives forever and change how we engage with each other and our environments for the rest of eternity?
Is it a viable investment for companies to replan and redevelop their workspace environments completely or will the bare minimum requirements suffice for now?
Here’s the thing: We don’t believe anyone can answer any of these questions. Yet.
We believe the world of work will continue to change rapidly over the coming months and eventually settle into a stable norm. The only thing we can say with confidence is that our work lives have already changed forever due to Covid-19 and Lockdown, and this is what, we believe, that change looks like:
Remote working will remain a norm in many sectors and for many teams.
People are generally more familiar with and comfortable with using technology for remote working and remote meetings.
More companies are comfortable with allowing flexible work approaches and work times now.
Many companies have been forced to downsize their teams and will start downsizing their office space.
Many employers are opting for outsourced resources because they can staff up or down on demand and keep overheads light. This means the freelance worker just became a potential career choice more than ever.
Many people find themselves unemployed. A wave of new start-ups and entrepreneurs will emerge from this situation, creating the need for flexible, affordable short-term pockets of space and co-working environments.
All of the above factors point to working lean, supporting local and developing multi-faceted and versatile work places and spaces.
How will this impact the office over time? Want to know our thoughts?
Catch the next installment of the blog post: The changing office- Part 2
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