Article of the Day: Exploring the new work environment
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The post-COVID workplace fascinates me. In my field, I have had to be in the office everyday since June 2021. There has only been a two-week span since where we went to a Mon-Wed-Fri or Tues-Thurs schedule. Outside of that one two-week span, we don’t have the capability to remote work. So reading about how much of the corporate world works is super interesting to me.
The first article I want to talk about is the article I got the picture above from. In 2019, Fee.org wrote an article about workplaces turning into a breeding ground for “workplace zombies”.
Writer Dr. Laura Williams describes the zombie workplace as a place where life goes to die:
“When you settle for a routine instead of building your skills and planning for what’s next, you surrender by default. Adventure over.
Don’t let “average” employment turn you into a mindless follower. Fight for your individuality — and take your own risks — if you want to get out alive.”
Little did she know a real virus would flip most workplaces upside down and allow millions of workers to live better lives.
Now let’s look at a 2022 article from the website Strategy+Business entitled “The Brave, New World of Work”. This article looks at all the recent analyses of the post-COVID workplace written by Strategy+Business.
According to S+B, “the ongoing pandemic has a lot to do with this, but so, too, do forces like technology, globalization, and evolving consumer habits.”
In many companies, the technology exists to disperse the workplace. This has become the norm in many office workplaces. Many workers expect to work from home. Even meetings and customer interactions are done via online communications. While workers are embracing this trend, it is also creating the need to reaffirm boundaries — to turn off communications and prevent the workday from creeping into the rest of the day.
One of the discussions in the S+B article I found most interesting is the discussion of the Four Forces Shaping Today’s Workplace. This linked article, written by consulting firm PwC, analyzes four variables that workplaces need to understand to develop a modern and successful workforce.
