Following the global COVID-19 pandemic, many businesspeople – both employees and employers –are feeling uncertain about the future of their jobs and how the world of work will look in the coming years. Although the news of an impending vaccine signifies the return to ‘normal’, it is likely that the business learnings of 2020 will continue to shape the future of the workplace.
A study* into exactly what the future of the workplace will look like in the next 5-10 years, with wellbeing-focused changes at the heart of the ‘new office’
To bring these changes to life, Birchwood Park has worked with esteemed futurologist, Dr Ian Pearson and workplace wellbeing expert, Khalil Rener.
The main five predictions for the office of the future are:
- Workplace satisfaction – workplace satisfaction will be founded in sensory surroundings and judged on air, light and sound quality and will be an employer’s responsibility to ensure that the office they provide for their staff is more than adequate to meet both mental and physical needs.
- A holistic approach to wellbeing – we will begin to see businesses offering greater support to employees: promoting healthy eating habits, an active lifestyle, greenery and open spaces, and, perhaps most importantly, more mental health support and provisions.
- A shift in office layouts – floor spaces will be reconfigured to allow for teleworking/hotdesking, with individual working pods installed to allow for solo working.
- Touch free tech – wall-mounted temperature check facilities and touch-free devices (automatic doors etc) will become commonplace, as will purpose-built sanitisation stations.
- Prevention of disease spread – more high-tech devices will be installed to minimise contamination – permanent air conditioning with heaper filters to filter viruses out of the air will become standard issue, and UV light sterilisation will mean that areas are properly safe for workers.
- Portable tech – predicted to tie into the increased need of greater flexibility in the way employees use the office; core working hours, rota systems to split time between the office and home working, and an increase in teleworking and hot desking.
Results from an on-park survey reveal that only 11% of companies are currently working from the office full time, with 16% concerned about being based in an office full time, regardless of additional safety procedures.
Despite these statistics, only 18% would be happy with working remotely for the foreseeable future, instead eager to embrace a new style of working where office and flexi time is fluid and can be interchangeable from week to week.
The main concerns for returning to the office were the ability to effectively social distance (21%), the level of health and safety procedures (24%), with the main attractions of returning to a physical office including the social interaction element (38%) and experiencing a different environment between work and home.
Martin O’ Rourke, commercial director of Birchwood Park said: “We are witnessing times of change; for all businesses regardless of sector and speciality, and for all employees regardless of profession or position, working habits have changed vastly from what they once were – with the need to adapt and focus on workplace wellbeing being quickly realised”
Birchwood Park*
