The future of office work: Difference between revisions
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{{freeessay|work|working from home|}}The after-effects of the COVID pandemic will reverberate long after the last “keep your distance and wash your hands” notice has faded from the public space. Whether or not you agree that that [[Coronavirus]] was a [[black swan]] — the arguments for and against that proposition are tiresome — the sudden, utter dislocation gave us a rare chance to see what would happen in a time of sudden nationwide, fracturing change. Not even in a time of war has every citizen been restricted to quarters for a period of months. We learned some new things: working from home is pretty cool! Pyjamas! Zoom! Kids rushing in at embarrassing moments! | {{freeessay|work|working from home|}}The after-effects of the COVID pandemic will reverberate long after the last “keep your distance and wash your hands” notice has faded from the public space. Whether or not you agree that that [[Coronavirus]] was a [[black swan]] — the arguments for and against that proposition are tiresome — the sudden, utter dislocation gave us a rare chance to see what would happen in a time of sudden nationwide, fracturing change. Not even in a time of war has every citizen been restricted to quarters for a period of months. We learned some new things: working from home is pretty cool! Pyjamas! Zoom! Kids rushing in at embarrassing moments! | ||
Covid lead broadly to two conclusions. The first was the [[thought leader]]’s, and it is basically [[This time it’s different|this time is different]]: the scales have now fallen from our eyes, we are no longer in the 1960s and even though we can now leave our homes without being arrested, a diverse and dynamic economy of gig-working, side-hustling cosmopolitan youngsters will ''require'' flexibility so, since we now ''know'' the business can manage it — right? — there is no reason flexible working should not become a fact of commercial life. | |||
The other is the Man’s, and it is, “get back the the office, you punks”. With a twist: the Man teetered for a while between that — “these good-for-naught [[Meatware|meatsack]]s are in their goddamn ''pajamas'' and I’m not having ''that'' on my dime” but the COO got fidgety and said “hold on, Clive, we can sublet half the office and slash our IT bill if these clowns work remotely on their own PCs let’s just think about it for a bit” — so they compromised by cutting office space ''and'' making everyone come back to work. | |||
Which is right? Well, neither, naturally, for the reasons stated, but the Man is on the right side of history in terms of how things will play out. For a few reasons, but mainly because, as ever, this time ''isn’t'' different. | |||
===Pace layers: things revert to how they were.=== | ===Pace layers: things revert to how they were.=== | ||