We all know that the pandemic has changed our lives, but how has it changed our work, and what changes will persist in the long term? Both employers and employees should be prepared.

1. Long-term Impacts of
Pandemic-style Work

2. • COVID-19 upended our lives and our
work. Many lost their jobs, and
many transitioned to remote work.
• “We all know that work will never
be the same, even if we don’t know
yet all the ways in which it
will be different,” Slack CEO
Stewart Butterfield told the BBC.
• That said, here is a look at the post-
pandemic future for employees.
2

3. Flexibility

4. • Now that employees have
experienced working from home
and employers have seen that it can
work, remote work is expected to
persist.
• The year of remote work showed
us many things, including:
• Employees enjoy more flexible
hours and less time commuting.
• Most want remote work to
continue. (A Future Forum study
found only 12% of 4700
knowledge workers wanted to
return to the office full time!)
4

5. • Bloomberg reports that work-from-
home will lift productivity by 5
percent post-pandemic.
• But not everyone benefits: Women
struggled with the unpaid work they
do at home coinciding with their
remote job responsibilities.
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6. 6
• All this is changing the view of where
work needs to be done, as well as
what should be done in the office
setting.
• According to a PwC survey, 87
percent of employees see the office
as a good place for “collaborating
with team members and building
relationships.”
• Some workers don’t necessarily
expect to, or want to, work from
home full-time now, but want the
flexibility to work remotely more
often.

7. 7
• As businesses are making plans to
offer more hybrid workplaces, people
will come onsite to meet clients,
securely access equipment, train, and
collaborate.
• Yet they aren’t going to expect the
same type of office setup.

8. People Still Long To Connect
Via Work

9. 9
• Our view of how we work may have
changed dramatically, and our view of
work’s value has shifted as well.
• Lockdown reminded many of us that
we enjoy “going to work.”
• While waiting in limbo, we came
to appreciate the sense of purpose
from doing our jobs.
• Plus, we realized how much we
enjoy running into a colleague at the
coffee machine or stopping by
someone’s desk to ask about their
lunch plans.

10. 10
• “The workplace is a social
environment,” Oxford University’s
Robin Dunbar told BBC Worklife. “The
sense of belonging — and of
commitment to the organization and
its aims and objectives — is very
quickly lost,” with remote work.
• He added that we are “in the midst of
a loneliness epidemic among the 20-
somethings.”

11. 11
• 20-somethings are particularly
likely to want to work in the
office setting.
• In the PWC survey:
• 30 percent of those with less than
five years of experience prefer
being remote no more than one
day a week.
• Only 20 percent of all respondents
prefer being remote no more than
one day a week.

12. Technology Transformation
Will Persist

13. 13
• The pandemic put many through
technology boot camp.
• Companies had to learn how to
provide remote network access and
connectivity to mobile workers.
• Employees had to learn how to use
different technology to collaborate
and communicate online.

14. 14
• These new skills won't be unlearned.
• Plus, the technological innovation
enabling remote work is only going
to continue.
• The migration to the cloud was
already in the works pre-pandemic.

15. 15
• At the same time, new Internet of
Things technology is going to change
the look of work environments, like:
• Tiny sensors to monitor conference room
capacity.
• The ability to track where people are
congregating.
• Technology to control air flow in the
building that could improve employee
wellbeing on site.

16. 16
• Once the business begins down the
"intelligent building" path, employees
can expect access to features such as:
• Online conference room, hot desk, or
smart locker reservations.
• Office equipment maintained by
connected alert to the manufacturer or
service provider.
• Smart lighting, HVAC, and water tracking
to improve sustainabilityby lowering
utility usage.

17. Business Travel: “Wait And See”

18. 18
• The US Travel Association estimates
a daily loss of approximately
$1.6 billion between March and
December 2020, for a total of $492
billion over the 10 months studied.
• People may be eager to get out and
travel by car to visit family and friends
but work travel remains something
many employees wish to avoid.
• McKinsey estimates “about 20
percent of business travel … may not
return.”

19. 19
• In the 2021 Meeting Planners’
Confidence Index, 39 percent didn’t
anticipate resuming events until the
third quarter of the year.
• Plus, 81 percent thought it would
take until 2023 to return to at least 80
percent of pre-COVID-19 annual
event levels.
• Also during the pandemic: training
programs went virtual and
networking moved online.

20. Employees Want A Say

21. 21
• The pandemic left many people
feeling powerless, and those who
were asked to return to the office
before they felt comfortable became
frustrated.
• The incoming generation of
employees, perhaps more used to
speaking up, voiced their frustrations
over how employers handle post-
pandemic work.
• It's more important than ever for
companies to listen to their
employees.

22. 22
Prioritizing the "employee voice"
has many advantages:
• Morale improves as employees feel
respected.
• Access to good ideas you might not have
heard otherwise.
• Improved retention as workers aren’t
seeking out alternatives.
• Greater collaboration among employees.
• Customer experience benefits when
employees are happier.

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25. Thank you!