fast-why-2021	----	Disconnect between workers and leaders about returning to the office Fast Company Follow Login Co.Design Tech Work Life News Impact Podcasts Video Recommender Innovation Festival 360IF360 Subscribe Newsletters Magazine FastCo Works Deloitte Honeywell OPTUM Homepage Co.Design Tech Work Life News Impact Podcasts Video Recommender Innovation Festival 360 Subscribe Help Centerfastco works DEEM Deloitte Grail Honeywell Lexus OPTUM Visa FastCo Works An award-winning team of journalists, designers, and videographers who tell brand stories through Fast Company's distinctive lens FC Executive Boardcollections Fast Government The future of innovation and technology in government for the greater good Most Innovative Companies Our annual guide to the businesses that matter the most Most Creative People Leaders who are shaping the future of business in creative ways World Changing Ideas New workplaces, new food sources, new medicine--even an entirely new economic system Innovation By Design Celebrating the best ideas in business NewsletterEvents Innovation Festival Courses and LearningAdvertiseCurrent IssueCurrent IssueSUBSCRIBE Follow us: advertisement advertisement 05-24-21 workplace evolution Why workers are calling BS on leaders about returning to the office Workforce scholars find that employees are feeling burned over broken work-from-home promises and corporate culture ‘BS’ as employers try to bring them back to the office. [Photo: Mike_Kiev/iStock; Bet_Noire/iStock] By Kimberly Merriman and David Greenway and Tamara Montag-Smit—The Conversation 6 minute Read advertisement advertisement advertisement As vaccinations and relaxed health guidelines make returning to the office a reality for more companies, there seems to be a disconnect between managers and their workers over remote work. advertisement advertisement A good example of this is a recent op-ed written by the CEO of a Washington, D.C., magazine that suggested workers could lose benefits such as healthcare if they insist on continuing to work remotely as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes. The staff reacted by refusing to publish for a day. While the CEO later apologized, she isn’t alone in appearing to bungle the transition back to the office after over a year in which tens of millions of employees were forced to work from home. A recent survey of full-time corporate or government employees found that two-thirds say their employers either have not communicated a post-pandemic office strategy or have only vaguely done so. As workforce scholars, we are interested in teasing out how workers are dealing with this situation. Our recent research found that this failure to communicate clearly is hurting morale, culture, and retention. advertisement Workers relocating We first began investigating workers’ pandemic experiences in July 2020 as shelter-in-place orders shuttered offices and remote work was widespread. At the time, we wanted to know how workers were using their newfound freedom to potentially work virtually from anywhere. We analyzed a data set that a business and technology newsletter attained from surveying its 585,000 active readers. It asked them whether they planned to relocate during the next six months and to share their story about why and where from and to. After a review, we had just under 3,000 responses, including 1,361 people who were planning to relocate or had recently done so. We systematically coded these responses to understand their motives and, based on distances moved, the degree of ongoing remote-work policy they would likely need. advertisement We found that a segment of these employees would require a full remote-work arrangement based on the distance moved from their office, and another portion would face a longer commute. Woven throughout this was the explicit or implicit expectation of some degree of ongoing remote work among many of the workers who moved during the pandemic. In other words, many of these workers were moving on the assumption—or promise—that they’d be able to keep working remotely at least some of the time after the pandemic ended. Or they seemed willing to quit if their employer didn’t oblige. We wanted to see how these expectations were being met as the pandemic started to wind down in March 2021. So we searched online communities in Reddit to see what workers were saying. One forum proved particularly useful. A member asked, “Has your employer made remote work permanent yet or is it still in the air?” and went on to share his own experience. This post generated 101 responses with a good amount of detail on what their respective individual companies were doing. advertisement While this qualitative data is only a small sample that is not necessarily representative of the U.S. population at large, these posts allowed us to delve into a richer understanding of how workers feel, which a simple stat can’t provide. We found a disconnect between workers and management that starts with but goes beyond the issue of the remote-work policy itself. Broadly speaking, we found three recurring themes in these anonymous posts. 1. Broken remote-work promises Others have also found that people are taking advantage of pandemic-related remote work to relocate to a city at a distance large enough that it would require partial or full-time remote work after people return to the office. advertisement A recent survey by consulting firm PwC found that almost a quarter of workers were considering or planning to move more than 50 miles from one of their employer’s main offices. The survey also found 12% have already made such a move during the pandemic without getting a new job. Our early findings suggested some workers would quit their current job rather than give up their new location if required by their employer, and we saw this actually start to occur in March. One worker planned a move from Phoenix to Tulsa with her fiancé to get a bigger place with cheaper rent after her company went remote. She later had to leave her job for the move, even though “they told me they would allow me to work from home, then said never mind about it.” advertisement Another worker indicated the promise to work remotely was only implicit, but he still had his hopes up when leaders “gassed us up for months saying we’d likely be able to keep working from home and come in occasionally” and then changed their minds and demanded employees return to the office once vaccinated. 2. Confused remote-work policies Another constant refrain we read in the worker comments was disappointment in their company’s remote-work policy—or lack thereof. Whether workers said they were staying remote for now, returning to the office, or still unsure, we found that nearly a quarter of the people in our sample said their leaders were not giving them meaningful explanations of what was driving the policy. Even worse, the explanations sometimes felt confusing or insulting. advertisement One worker complained that the manager “wanted butts in seats because we couldn’t be trusted to [work from home] even though we’d been doing it since last March,” adding: “I’m giving my notice on Monday.” Another, whose company issued a two-week timeline for all to return to the office, griped: “Our leadership felt people weren’t as productive at home. While as a company we’ve hit most of our goals for the year. . . . Makes no sense.” After a long period of office shutterings, it stands to reason workers would need time to readjust to office life, a point expressed in recent survey results. Employers that quickly flip the switch in calling workers back and do so with poor clarifying rationale risk appearing tone-deaf. advertisement It suggests a lack of trust in productivity at a time when many workers report putting in more effort than ever and being strained by the increased digital intensity of their job—that is, the growing number of online meetings and chats. And even when companies said they wouldn’t require a return to the office, workers still faulted them for their motives, which many employees described as financially motivated. “We are going hybrid,” one worker wrote. “I personally don’t think the company is doing it for us. I think they realized how efficient and how much money they are saving.” advertisement Only a small minority of workers in our sample said their company asked for input on what employees actually want from a future remote work policy. Given that leaders are rightly concerned about company culture, we believe they are missing a key opportunity to engage with workers on the issue and show their policy rationales aren’t only about dollars and cents. 3. Corporate culture “BS” Management gurus such as Peter Drucker and other scholars have found that corporate culture is very important to binding together workers in an organization, especially in times of stress. A company’s culture is essentially its values and beliefs shared among its members. That’s harder to foster when everyone is working remotely. advertisement That’s likely why corporate human resource executives rank maintaining organizational culture as their top workforce priority for 2021. But many of the forum posts we reviewed suggested that employer efforts to do that during the pandemic by orchestrating team outings and other get-togethers were actually pushing workers away, and that this type of “culture building” was not welcome. One worker’s company “had everyone come into the office for an outdoor luncheon a week ago,” according to a post, adding: “Idiots.” advertisement Surveys have found that what workers want most from management, on the issue of corporate culture, are more remote-work resources, updated policies on flexibility, and more communication from leadership. As another worker put it, “I can tell you, most people really don’t give 2 flips about ‘company culture’ and think it’s BS.” Kimberly Merriman is a professor of management at the Manning School of Business, University of Massachusetts Lowell; David Greenway is a doctoral candidate in leadership/organization studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell; and Tamara Montag-Smit is an assistant professor of business at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. advertisement This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Innovation in your inbox Sign up for the daily newsletter Sign UpSee All Newsletters Video Impact Impact3 things to know before you start a a sustainability-based company ImpactInside UPSIDE Foods’ quest to make the most perfect meat grown in a lab ImpactCan this startup engineer a better baby formula? News NewsIRS unemployment tax refund update: Finally, the checks start showing up! NewsHackers attack America’s largest meat processor over Memorial Day weekend NewsHow to watch the UEFA Champions League final 2021 live without cable Co.Design Co.DesignThis haunting forest offers hope in the face of climate change Co.DesignSee the horrifying place where your old clothes go to die Co.DesignThe store of the future won’t have any merchandise at all Work Life Work LifeThese keys to negotiation will help you get the most out of a new job Work LifeHow to talk to your boss about your mental health Work LifeHow to think on your feet when you’re put on the spot Advertise Privacy Policy Terms Notice of Collection Do Not Sell My Data Permissions Contact About Us Site Map Fast Company & Inc © 2021 Mansueto Ventures, LLC 
forbes-14-2021	----	14 Ways To Help Employees Feel Safe Returning To In-Person Work Explore Billionaires All Billionaires World's Billionaires Forbes 400 America's Richest Self-Made Women China's Richest India's Richest Indonesia's Richest Korea's Richest Thailand's Richest Japan's Richest Australia's Richest Taiwan's Richest Singapore's Richest Philippines' Richest Hong Kong's Richest Malaysia's Richest Money & Politics 2020 Money Innovation All Innovation 5G AI Big Data Cisco AppDynamics BrandVoice | Paid Program Cloud Cloud 100 Cognizant BrandVoice | Paid Program Consumer Tech Cybersecurity Enterprise Tech Future Of Work Games Health Innovation Rules Jumio BrandVoice | Paid Program SAP BrandVoice | Paid Program Science ServiceNow BrandVoice | Paid Program Social Media Splunk BrandVoice | Paid Program SurveyMonkey BrandVoice | Paid Program Sustainability T-Mobile for Business BrandVoice | Paid Program Venture Capital Wind River BrandVoice | Paid Program Leadership All Leadership Careers CEO Network CFO Network CIO Network CMO Network CxO Deloitte BrandVoice | Paid Program Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Education Forbes EQ | Paid Program Forbes The Culture ForbesWomen Google Cloud BrandVoice | Paid Program Leadership Strategy Splunk BrandVoice | Paid Program Under 30 Working Remote Over 50 Money All Money Banking & Insurance Crypto & Blockchain ETFs & Mutual Funds Fintech Hedge Funds & Private Equity Investing Markets Personal Finance Premium Investing Newsletters Retirement Taxes Top Advisor | SHOOK Wealth Management Election 2020 Business All Business Aerospace & Defense Alteryx BrandVoice | Paid Program Energy Food & Drink Hollywood & Entertainment Honeywell BrandVoice | Paid Program Manufacturing Media Policy Retail Ryder BrandVoice | Paid Program SportsMoney Tableau BrandVoice | Paid Program Transportation Small Business All Small Business Entrepreneurs Franchises Office Depot OfficeMax BrandVoice | Paid Program Small Business Strategy Square BrandVoice | Paid Program Lifestyle All Lifestyle Arts Boats & Planes Cars & Bikes Dining ForbesLife Forbes Travel Guide Spirits Style & Beauty Travel Vices Watches Real Estate All Real Estate Commercial Real Estate Forbes Global Properties Residential Real Estate Vetted All Vetted Gear Health & Wellness Home & Kitchen Style Tech & Electronics Coupons All Coupons Purple Squarespace Verizon Lululemon AT&T Lowe's Brooks Brothers Tory Burch Dr Martens Dell Chewy Advisor All Advisor Life Insurance Best Life Insurance Companies Best Term Life Insurance The Best Credit Cards Of 2021 Best Balance Transfer Credit Cards Best Cash Back Credit Cards Best 0% APR Credit Cards Best Travel Credit Cards Best Business Credit Cards Best Travel Insurance Companies Pandemic Travel Insurance Best Car Insurance Companies Best Pet Insurance Best Personal Loans Best Student Loans Best Student Loan Refinance Best Crypto Exchanges Forbes Advisor UK Wheels All Wheels Best Sedans Best Luxury SUVs Best SUVs Best Pickups Best Performance Cars Best Family-Friendly Sedans Best SUVs & Crossovers Best Electric Cars Best Sports Cars Lists All Lists Video All Video Newsletters Crypto Confidential Editorial Newsletters Investing Digest Premium Investing Newsletters Forbes Magazine All Forbes Magazine Forbes Asia Free Issue of Forbes Latest Coronavirus Coverage Daily Cover Stories Dark Capital Editors' Picks Election 2020 Visual Web Stories Featured 30 Under 30 2021 All Hands On Data - A Tableau Series | Paid Program America's Top Women Wealth Advisors Atlassian BrandVoice | Paid Program Data Sharing In The Covid Era | Paid Program DNA Of Success Emotional EQuity | Paid Program Forbes Next 1000 2021 Future of Work | Presented by Microsoft Teams Hitachi ABB Power Grids BrandVoice | Paid Program Office Depot OfficeMax BrandVoice | Paid Program Schneider Electric BrandVoice | Paid Program ServiceNow BrandVoice | Paid Program Splunk BrandVoice | Paid Program Square BrandVoice | Paid Program Tableau BrandVoice | Paid Program TD Bank BrandVoice | Paid Program The Next Step | Small Business Video Series World's Billionaires List Advertise with Forbes Report a Security Issue Site Feedback Contact Us Careers at Forbes Tips Corrections Privacy Do Not Sell My Info Terms AdChoices Reprints & Permissions © 2021 Forbes Media LLC. All Rights Reserved Sign In Subscribe BETA This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here More From Forbes Jun 1, 2021,01:27pm EDT The Future Of Integrative Health And Medicine Jun 1, 2021,01:23pm EDT KAON Paradigm Shift: How to Communicate Complex Value in A Digital-First World Jun 1, 2021,01:10pm EDT Burning Out At Work? Try One Of These 13 Weekend Activities Jun 1, 2021,01:10pm EDT How To Find And Keep Top Sales Talent: 15 Tips For Agency Owners Jun 1, 2021,01:04pm EDT The Return-To-Office Dilemma: Make Sure Employees Understand The “Why” Jun 1, 2021,12:53pm EDT Detained Journalist Raman Pratasevich Tops June Ranking Of One Free Press Coalition’s “10 Most Urgent” Press Freedom Cases Jun 1, 2021,12:30pm EDT When They Grant Tenure, More Colleges Are Taking Professors’ Diversity Work Into Account Jun 1, 2021,12:29pm EDT Metaverse Weekly: Virtual Gucci Pursues, Digital People, Direct To Avatar Ecosystem, Nerf, NFTs And Beyond Edit Story Apr 5, 2021,08:10am EDT| 14 Ways To Help Employees Feel Safe Returning To In-Person Work Expert Panel®Forbes Councils Member Forbes Human Resources CouncilCOUNCIL POSTExpertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. | Membership (fee-based) Leadership Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin While the jump to remote work was undoubtedly stressful for everyone involved, returning to the office will bring its own set of anxieties. Thankfully, HR teams can remedy the situation by providing ongoing support and guidance. As HR leaders, the members of Forbes Human Resources Council understand the challenges of bringing people back into the office after a year of remote work. Below, 14 of them share effective ways HR teams can help employees who are making the transition back to in-person work feel supported and safe. Forbes Human Resources Council members offer advice for helping employees who are making the transition back into in-person work. Photos courtesy of the individual members. 1. Open Your Mind Be flexible and open your mind to the many thoughts, feelings and situations of employees. We learned a lot about mental health in 2020, dealing with anxieties and stressors as we never have before. I found that simply having an open mind about others’ situations was key. While it’s fairly easy to create a physically safe work environment, it’s another thing to create a mentally and emotionally safe space. - Christina Hobbs, American Queen Steamboat Company 2. Let Employees Lead The Way Recognize that some employees will be genuinely nervous. Not everyone is keen to rush back, so if an employee is communicating some anxiety, let them lead the way. I believe the way forward is flexibility that is led by employees. It isn’t about companies forcing employees to feel a certain way; it’s about companies listening. - Karla Reffold, Orpheus Cyber 3. Discuss The Rationale Behind Returning Aside from taking the necessary precautions to keep your people safe and clearly communicating those precautions, HR teams (and all leaders) should dive deep into the discussion of why the transition back into in-person is happening. If there is a sensible rationale behind it, helping your people understand this will make them feel supported. “Because we missed you!” is not good enough. - Bryan Passman, Hunter + Esquire MORE FOR YOU The Future Of Work Will Be Five-Hour Days, A Four-Day Workweek And Flexible Staggered Schedules Why Lumber And Plywood Prices Are So High—And When They Will Come Down Kamalanomics: Vice President Harris Outlines Her Vision Of Inclusive Entrepreneurship 4. Transition Slowly We have taken steps to get back to normal at our company. I have implemented this gradually, so all employees feel safe. Rather than two days a week working from home, we have transitioned to one day a week working from home; and we are spacing ourselves out in the office area a little more to make our employees feel safe. - Melissa Bolton, Perlon Hahl Inc. 5. Prepare People Emotionally Preparing people for the emotional rollercoaster that will ensue is critical here. Some will need help understanding that they won’t be returning to life as it was before. Others will need reminding that the return will likely be neither as good nor as bad as they expect it to be. Remembering that everyone will experience conflicting emotions in the transition will be important. - Philip Burgess, C Space Forbes Human Resources Council is an invitation-only organization for HR executives across all industries. Do I qualify? 6. Be Transparent About The Process There are a number of things companies can do to ease employees back into the office, including being flexible, making appropriate changes to office spaces, hosting both virtual and in-person events and celebrating the return with engagement activities. But the most critical element is frequent and transparent communication about the process before, during and after the office’s reopening. - Naveen Bhateja, Medidata Solutions 7. Communicate Guidelines Clearly communicate the guidelines for a safe return to the office. These guidelines should include safety protocols such as wearing face masks, social distancing and ensuring access to sanitizers and other disinfectants. The leadership should also acknowledge that some people may not feel it is safe to return, and accommodations should be provided as such. Some may want to limit capacity so that teams are in on certain days. - Srikant Chellappa, Engagedly | Mentoring Complete 8. Consider A Hybrid Model Flexibility, transparency and communication are important. Consider a hybrid model that can build a bridge from being fully remote to being in person. We also have an opportunity to evolve the way we are all thinking about work, including challenging a default return to an “in-office-only” approach. Defining job personas can help illustrate what is a must-have for each role and what is just a return to what we are used to. - Maria Miletic, Blue Prism Software 9. Develop A Return-To-Work Plan Support employees returning to the office by preparing them for what they should expect. Develop a return-to-work plan that supports their diverse needs. Address environmental concerns and redesign workspaces to ensure social distancing. Effectively communicate to prepare employees in advance. Offer flexible work options that will allow employees to safely transition back into the office in phases. - Thalia Rodriguez, Providence Anesthesiology Associates 10. Express Concern For Employee Safety Make sure that everyone knows you are concerned for their safety and that communications around it are not just a formality. This means ensuring the rules are enforced for everyone equally and that people know they can call each other out and/or contact you without consequence if the rules are not being followed. - Alex Pantich, Upshift 11. Set Up A Transition Team Create a return-to-work guide, outlining what employees can expect when they return. Key safety topics to include are changes in how to access entrances, modifications to office layouts to ensure social distancing, cleaning schedules for sanitizing offices and capacity restrictions for meetings. Also, set up a transition team to focus on maintaining ongoing communication with employees. - Bridgette Wilder, Wilder HR Management & EEO Consulting 12. Allow Remote Work On A Part-Time Basis We learned that, for some, remote work can be just as productive as in-person work. Organizations can help employees transition back to the office by providing ongoing flexibility and support. Allowing employees to continue to work remotely on a part-time basis will help them maintain control of their own schedules and reduce the stress associated with a sudden change in the way they work. - Karla Bylund, Soaring Bird Solutions LLC 13. Try A Graduated Return A hybrid arrangement can offer a cushion, especially for employees who are reluctant to return to in-person work environments. Employees will value the two-way communication of a graduated return, and companies can compare data as they determine what their new normal will be. - Courtney Pace, FedEx Employees Credit Assoc. 14. Keep Lines Of Communication Open All transitions require a high level of communication. Start by mapping out a plan, speaking with your team and learning how the company can best support employees. Keep the lines of communication open as the transition takes place. The goal is to create a seamless transition process for employees while making sure all safety standards are clear and, ultimately, followed. - Leigh Yanocha, Knopman Marks Financial Training Expert Panel® Successful HR executives from Forbes Human Resources Council offer leadership and management insights. … Read More Successful HR executives from Forbes Human Resources Council offer leadership and management insights.  Read Less Print Reprints & Permissions 
forbes-if-2021	----	If You Don’t Want To Return To The Office Or Stay At Home Everyday, There’s Now A Third Attractive Way To Work Explore Billionaires All Billionaires World's Billionaires Forbes 400 America's Richest Self-Made Women China's Richest India's Richest Indonesia's Richest Korea's Richest Thailand's Richest Japan's Richest Australia's Richest Taiwan's Richest Singapore's Richest Philippines' Richest Hong Kong's Richest Malaysia's Richest Money & Politics 2020 Money Innovation All Innovation 5G AI Big Data Cisco AppDynamics BrandVoice | Paid Program Cloud Cloud 100 Cognizant BrandVoice | Paid Program Consumer Tech Cybersecurity Enterprise Tech Future Of Work Games Health Innovation Rules Jumio BrandVoice | Paid Program SAP BrandVoice | Paid Program Science ServiceNow BrandVoice | Paid Program Social Media Splunk BrandVoice | Paid Program SurveyMonkey BrandVoice | Paid Program Sustainability T-Mobile for Business BrandVoice | Paid Program Venture Capital Wind River BrandVoice | Paid Program Leadership All Leadership Careers CEO Network CFO Network CIO Network CMO Network CxO Deloitte BrandVoice | Paid Program Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Education Forbes EQ | Paid Program Forbes The Culture ForbesWomen Google Cloud BrandVoice | Paid Program Leadership Strategy Splunk BrandVoice | Paid Program Under 30 Working Remote Over 50 Money All Money Banking & Insurance Crypto & Blockchain ETFs & Mutual Funds Fintech Hedge Funds & Private Equity Investing Markets Personal Finance Premium Investing Newsletters Retirement Taxes Top Advisor | SHOOK Wealth Management Election 2020 Business All Business Aerospace & Defense Alteryx BrandVoice | Paid Program Energy Food & Drink Hollywood & Entertainment Honeywell BrandVoice | Paid Program Manufacturing Media Policy Retail Ryder BrandVoice | Paid Program SportsMoney Tableau BrandVoice | Paid Program Transportation Small Business All Small Business Entrepreneurs Franchises Office Depot OfficeMax BrandVoice | Paid Program Small Business Strategy Square BrandVoice | Paid Program Lifestyle All Lifestyle Arts Boats & Planes Cars & Bikes Dining ForbesLife Forbes Travel Guide Spirits Style & Beauty Travel Vices Watches Real Estate All Real Estate Commercial Real Estate Forbes Global Properties Residential Real Estate Vetted All Vetted Gear Health & Wellness Home & Kitchen Style Tech & Electronics Coupons All Coupons Purple Squarespace Verizon Lululemon AT&T Lowe's Brooks Brothers Tory Burch Dr Martens Dell Chewy Advisor All Advisor Life Insurance Best Life Insurance Companies Best Term Life Insurance The Best Credit Cards Of 2021 Best Balance Transfer Credit Cards Best Cash Back Credit Cards Best 0% APR Credit Cards Best Travel Credit Cards Best Business Credit Cards Best Travel Insurance Companies Pandemic Travel Insurance Best Car Insurance Companies Best Pet Insurance Best Personal Loans Best Student Loans Best Student Loan Refinance Best Crypto Exchanges Forbes Advisor UK Wheels All Wheels Best Sedans Best Luxury SUVs Best SUVs Best Pickups Best Performance Cars Best Family-Friendly Sedans Best SUVs & Crossovers Best Electric Cars Best Sports Cars Lists All Lists Video All Video Newsletters Crypto Confidential Editorial Newsletters Investing Digest Premium Investing Newsletters Forbes Magazine All Forbes Magazine Forbes Asia Free Issue of Forbes Latest Coronavirus Coverage Daily Cover Stories Dark Capital Editors' Picks Election 2020 Visual Web Stories Featured 30 Under 30 2021 All Hands On Data - A Tableau Series | Paid Program America's Top Women Wealth Advisors Atlassian BrandVoice | Paid Program Data Sharing In The Covid Era | Paid Program DNA Of Success Emotional EQuity | Paid Program Forbes Next 1000 2021 Future of Work | Presented by Microsoft Teams Hitachi ABB Power Grids BrandVoice | Paid Program Office Depot OfficeMax BrandVoice | Paid Program Schneider Electric BrandVoice | Paid Program ServiceNow BrandVoice | Paid Program Splunk BrandVoice | Paid Program Square BrandVoice | Paid Program Tableau BrandVoice | Paid Program TD Bank BrandVoice | Paid Program World's Billionaires List Advertise with Forbes Report a Security Issue Site Feedback Contact Us Careers at Forbes Tips Corrections Privacy Do Not Sell My Info Terms AdChoices Reprints & Permissions © 2021 Forbes Media LLC. All Rights Reserved Sign In Subscribe BETA This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here More From Forbes Jun 1, 2021,01:59pm EDT What The ‘Team Vs. Family’ Debate Gets Wrong About Company Culture Jun 1, 2021,09:08am EDT Tennis Star Naomi Osaka Stood Up For Herself, Bravely Shared Her Mental Health Issues And Walked Away From The French Open Jun 1, 2021,09:00am EDT Applying For An Internship? Here's What To Know In 2021 Jun 1, 2021,08:20am EDT Too Distracted? Learn How To Be Where Your Feet Are Jun 1, 2021,08:12am EDT What 75+ Webinars Taught Me About Delivering Online Presentations For The New World Of Work Jun 1, 2021,07:30am EDT Elin Hilderbrand Talks About Her Career, Books, Movies, And Retirement Jun 1, 2021,07:20am EDT This Cisco VP Led A Global Team Of 2,000 From A Travel Trailer. Here’s What She Learned. Jun 1, 2021,07:00am EDT Why A Kick-Butt Video Interview Matters So Much—For Companies And Candidates Alike Edit Story May 22, 2021,10:41am EDT| If You Don’t Want To Return To The Office Or Stay At Home Everyday, There’s Now A Third Attractive Way To Work Jack KellySenior ContributorOpinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Careers I write actionable interview, career and salary advice. Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Professionals working in a cool open coworking space getty Landlords were terrified. The remote-work trend during the dark days of the pandemic looked like office buildings were a relic of a past antiquated age. In a time of social distancing, corralling thousands of human beings into close contact in steel enclosures for eight to 10 hours under fluorescent lights and forced air seemed barbaric. In Europe, banking giants HSBC, Lloyds Bank and Standard Chartered announced plans to jettison their costly, well-appointed posh headquarters or leave when their leases expired. Meanwhile, progressive tech companies, such as Twitter, Square and Spotify, told their staff that they could work remotely forever. Over the last several months, the trend started moving toward a flexible hybrid model. This entails having people come into the office two or three days a week and working from home the rest of the time. There would also be a sizable percentage of employees solely working remotely, as studies show one in four workers would quit if forced to go back.    The corporate consensus is that most—but not all—workers will return to the office. For instance, JPMorgan strongly urged bankers to return to work, but allowed about 10% to stay remote. Ten percent is about 25,000 people. It's the same with Google. The company has built and repurposed office space to make it an amazing place for Gen-Zers with all of the amenities young people would want. Even with the coolness factor, there will be thousands of people who will continue to work remotely.   Co-working companies are betting that work-from-homers won’t think of it as a total “Remotopia.” People like myself have grown weary of being at home. You have to take care of two dogs, two cats, a spouse, kids and a relative brought in during the pandemic, while trying to actually work. There’s the constant interruptions of lawn mowers, leaf blowers, neighbors’ kids playing basketball and construction on the house across the street. MORE FOR YOU The Future Of Work Will Be Five-Hour Days, A Four-Day Workweek And Flexible Staggered Schedules Study Shows People Working From Home Are Having Sex, Dating, Taking Naps And Doing Side Hustles On Company Time Get Happy: The Science Of Emotions And How To Harness Them For Happiness For many people who live in the suburbs, there’s no burning desire to get back on a bus or train and waste two to three hours going back and forth in a dreadful, soul-sucking commute to the city each and every day. They don’t want to be stuck at home every day either—fixing spotty internet connections without any IT help, ensuring the lighting is right for yet another Zoom call and going outside to make a phone call because you can't get a good reception in the house for some unknown reason.  I’ve spoken with a number of CEOs of both well-established and startup real estate companies that have plans for the future of work. Mark Dixon is the businessman who came up with the co-working concept over 30 years ago, and became a billionaire in the process. There are now a number of smart, scrappy startup entrepreneurs that seek to disrupt the staid office real estate market. The solution that both Dixon and the newcomers are coming up with is to have a third choice—a nice place to go to a couple of times a week to get out of the house and break up the monotony.  Here’s What These Companies Are Doing To Shake Things Up IWG IWG, which owns the Regus brand and other co-working divisions,  helps “millions of people in 3,125 locations in over 1,000 cities across more than 110 countries.” Its spaces offer a community atmosphere. Instead of having to wrestle with erratic internet connections at home, IWG provides professionals that help to manage your technology, phone lines, desks, chairs and lighting, so that you can just focus on the work. Dixon is bullish and excited about the future. He maintains that there are millions of people around the world that want a place to go without schlepping into a city, losing three hours a day and coming home exhausted and stressed out.  Having fewer commuters helps the environment by cutting down carbon emissions, Dixon points out. Co-working spaces are convenient. They allow corporations to lose the large and expensive real estate burden. IWG would house their staff when they want to get out of their apartments and homes, even if it's for one day a week. Dixon has seen the migration of people out of London and New York during the dark days of the Covid-19 outbreak. The work-from-anywhere trend has allowed folks to go to all sorts of interesting places across the globe. The co-working offices will follow their trail and offer a nearby place for them to do their work. Some of these spaces will be in mixed-use locations in suburban and rural markets.  According to Dixon, “In the wake of the global pandemic, the world of work has undergone a wholesale evolution,” He added “While employees have wanted the ability to work remotely in recent years, many still want to return to an office environment at least part of the time.” Dixon talked about his division, “We have been at the forefront of global workspace trends and are looking forward to introducing our latest innovation with the launch of Spaces Napa, the first of several locations that will help utilize existing retail space, while empowering a new generation of hybrid workers.”   The concept is designed to have universal appeal and resonate with a wide array of workers, entrepreneurs and independent contractors, who may visit a central headquarters for meetings and events, while working some of the time from home or at a third type of causal office location.    Daybase Daybase was founded by two former WeWork executives. Their idea is to put a new spin on the co-working concept. The startup will offer workers an alternative to going into a company’s home office or working remotely at home. The co-working company plans to lease around 5,000 square feet of office space in retail shopping centers, malls and downtown areas of suburban neighborhoods. The goal is to have co-working spaces close to where the people live. Instead of trekking into a major city or laboring alone at home, they’ll have another choice. It could be only a walk or short drive to the nearest DayBase location. The spaces offer furnished offices with a local feel and “concierge” support for your technology, software and operational needs. Daybase CEO Joel Steinhaus said, “The pandemic completely upended work routines and, with that, the expectations of the workforce.” Steinhaus continued, “For companies, being competitive for talent in a post-pandemic world boils down to one clear takeaway: there is no full return to normal. Normal has changed. The work environment and work schedule companies offer is the next frontier upon which the coming talent war will be waged.” As the job market heats up, businesses need to accommodate workers to attract and retain them. Offering choices on where they can work is an attractive benefit. The chief executive predicts, “Those companies that invest the time now to come up with creative and responsive solutions to the shift in their employees’ expectation of greater autonomy and flexibility are going to have an incredible advantage when it comes to retaining and attracting the top talent in their industry.”  Daybase COO Doug Chambers said, “It’s time for a completely new model—one that creates a seamless hybrid work experience and empowers people to work closer to home in the way that best suits their roles, their skills, their schedules and their lives.”  KettleSpace KettleSpace, founded in 2016, is a workspace technology company based in New York City that focuses on empowering professionals to thrive in today’s era of location-agnostic work. With its robust software competencies, a network of inspiring local workspaces and expertise in operations and community development, KettleSpace already empowers more than 50,000 users and works in 100-plus spaces, nationwide.   KettleSpace intends to support its customers by offering productive workspaces close to home. The company has a unique model. It partners with restaurants that have private, unused space or are closed entirely during the day, transforming them into a network of collaborative co-working spaces. KettlesSpace views restaurants as middle ground, which also serves as a co-working space. CoFounder Nick Iovacchini said “We created KettleOS in response to feedback from 1,000-plus business leaders from various positions within companies (HR, facilities, real estate, finance and C-Suite). Our product provides leadership with dynamic solutions tackling dynamic problems in terms of coordinating people, spaces and time in the hybrid environment. For employees, we provide an intuitive work experience  app that goes layers deeper than simply booking spaces or finding alternative workspaces.” Daniel Rosenzweig, a cofounder of the company, was a former WeWork real-estate team executive. WeWork experienced lightning-fast growth, but burned through billions of dollars and suffered from questionable management decisions made by former CEO Adam Neumann.  Rosenzweig recognized how fast cash can be spent on renting real estate and refurbishing spaces to accommodate co-working. Whereas restaurants and other types of retail locations don’t require large investments. The small businesses would be happy to have people in their restaurants, especially on off hours, to add an additional income stream.   “We provide the comfort and connectivity of co-working spaces for a fraction of the cost. Our customers enjoy an atmosphere that’s the perfect mix of productive and buzzy. Our goal is to allow them to work and meet where they want, when they want and how they want,” Rosenzweig said.   Gable  Gable launched in mid-2020. “Think of Gable as the Airbnb of co-working,” CEO Liza Mash Levin says. “We have two types of hosts. One is a person that already operates the space for their business. This person has a great setup and Gable helps to maximize the usage of their space, such as in the evenings and on weekends. Another type is a remote worker that stays at home, wants company and wants to leverage their space to get additional income.” Levin describes the increasing need for a third space—for remote workers and students alike. “A third space isn’t your home, your office or your school, but a place close to home where you can be productive and work throughout the day with your colleagues, classmates or a small group of people.” The startup offers a novel, disruptive flexible drop-in option at other people’s homes. Gable makes it easy for companies to actively manage a hybrid or distributed workforce by offering a selection of locally vetted, luxurious and flexible locations and the tools to streamline workflow. Your new unique office can take the form of a desk, couch or living room. The idea is to provide alternatives to the status quo by offering a fresh new change of scenery. This could help people avoid the burnout associated with working in the same office or cubicle day-after-day and the adverse impact of isolation when working alone at home for long periods of time. Gable seeks to be the first workspace-as-a-service platform. Their technology will empower remote workers to “find safe, inspiring workspaces that help them connect to the broader community of professionals in their neighborhood and do their best work.” “Most remote workers go to co-working spaces, which are big complexes with the majority in major hubs,” Levin says. “If someone lives in a residential neighborhood, why would they commute? That’s why Gable is focused on residential locations to make sure that people have easier access to co-working.” Jack Kelly I am a CEO, founder, and executive recruiter at one of the oldest and largest global search firms in my area of expertise, and have personally placed thousands of … Read More I am a CEO, founder, and executive recruiter at one of the oldest and largest global search firms in my area of expertise, and have personally placed thousands of professionals with top-tier companies over the last 20-plus years. I am passionate about advocating for job seekers. In doing so, I have founded a start-up company, WeCruitr, where our mission is to make the job search more humane and enjoyable. As a proponent of career growth, I am excited to share my insider interviewing tips and career advancement secrets with you in an honest, straightforward, no-nonsense and entertaining manner. My career advice will cover everything you need to know, including helping you decide if you really should seek out a new opportunity, whether you are leaving for the wrong reasons, proven successful interviewing techniques, negotiating a salary and accepting an offer and a real-world understanding of how the hiring process actually works. My articles come from an experienced recruiter’s insider perspective.  Read Less Print Reprints & Permissions