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Call the coroner. Notify the families. The relic known as the 9-5 traditional workweek is dead. Sure, pockets of it will linger on with those trying to fight the inevitable. But it’s futile. The battle is over. The old ways have come and gone, and the new normal is here to stay.
Long live the hybrid work model!
Whether you’re in your home office, a bookstore, a coffee shop, or a coworking center, more and more companies are empowering those employees who desire flexibility, efficiency, and work-life balance. No longer will they be chained to their desks and endure the long commutes to do a job that they could do in the comfort of their own homes. To the fret of office managers whose sole role is to babysit others, they will become just as obsolete as the 9-5 workweek with the advancement of tech and the productivity created with hybrid work.
“It’s easier for executives to hold on to the old notion that people are really working if they can see them down the hall,” Dan Kaplan of Korn Ferry told MSNBC. “It’s almost too hard for some leaders to comprehend a world where that option doesn’t exist, or to consider a radical new approach.”
A significant transformation occurred with the pandemic. It seemed to be temporary but companies (and employees) got a glimpse of a better way to do things. Just like when the creation of Ford’s Model T made the horse and carriage industry practically vanish overnight, flexible work proved to be a superior way of doing things and was mutually beneficial.
With platforms such as Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams, working remotely became effective and eliminated the need to be physically present for meetings thus allowing time for more job satisfaction and more time to handle personal errands.
Employees working in the office full-time has decreased by 42% in the second quarter of this year which is down nearly 50% from the first quarter of 2023, according to The Flex Report. According to the report, 51% of companies are requiring three days of in-office work with 39% requiring just two days in the office. To the dread of commercial real estate agents, that’s 90% of those operating that require just half a week of being in the office. Among some of the noteworthy companies using the hybrid model include Google, Microsoft, Amazon, IMB, Deutsche Bank, and many more.
In a research paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, hybrid work reduces turnover by 35%. The financial benefits to companies don’t end there. According to OfficeRnD, companies can save 40-50% in office space costs alone. An IWG survey, over 80% of CFOs said hybrid work saves their company money. Seeing that companies can get the same productivity and more at a cheaper cost, will always appeal to corporations.
It took a crisis and the advancement of technology to pave the way for how we now work in the 21st century and the sudden shift will be looked upon as one of the cornerstones of the “new norm” and a way of life that future generations will enjoy without any memory of the days of old.
In the words of Brad Pitt’s character Billy Beane in the 2011 film Moneyball, “Adapt or die.” Embrace the new normal. Take the wheel instead of holding on to the reigns of the past. It was a good run, 9-5. But the book has been closed. Your obituary has been written.
Death by hybrid work.
