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The future of office work (view source)

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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 aftermath of the COVID pandemic will reverberate long after the last “keep your distance and wash your godamn hands” notice has faded from the public space. Whether or not the [[Coronavirus]] was a [[black swan]] — the arguments for and against are tiresome — the sudden dislocation gave us a rare chance to see what happens in a time of nationwide, fracturing ''change''. Note: not a single [[change manager]] engaged, no [[business continuity plan]] invoked, and yet, in businesses great and small across the globe, the change went through ''overnight'' and without a hitch.  


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.  
Not even in a time of war has every citizen in the land been restricted to private quarters for months on end.  


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 — you know, “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 footprint and slash our [[IT]] bill if these clowns work remotely on their own PCs so let’s just think about it for a bit” — so they compromised by cutting office space ''and'' making everyone come back to work.
And we learned some new things: working from home is pretty cool! Pyjamas! Zoom! Kids rushing in at embarrassing moments!


Which is right? Well, neither, naturally, for the reasons stated, but the JC reluctantly senses that [[The Man]] is on the right side of history. For a few reasons — none being the ones [[The Man]] ''thinks'' are the right reasons — but because, as ever, [[This time it’s different|this time ''isn’t'' different]].  
As the COVID tide receded, thought leaders in the marketplace of ideas took to [[LinkedIn]] and [[Twitter]] to grapple publicly with what it all meant for the future of work. They fell broadly into two camps.
 
The first was basically to say, “[[This time it’s different|this time is different]]”: the scales have fallen from our eyes, we are no longer in the 1960s and even though we can 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. This view was, and is, broadly held by the [[executive coach]]es, [[digital prophet]]s, [[legal practice disruptors]], techno-futurists and lifestyle consultants of the world.
 
The other view was [[The Man]]’s, and it was, “get back into the the office, you punks”.
 
With a twist: [[The Man]]’s view teetered for a while between “these good-for-naught [[Meatware|meatsack]]s are in their goddamn ''pajamas'' and I’m not having ''that'' on my dime”, and the [[COO]]’s more squirrelly “hold on, Clive, if these clowns work remotely on their own PCs we can sublet half the office footprint and slash our [[IT]] bill so let’s not rush this” — but the two eventually compromised by cutting office space ''and'' making everyone come back to work.
 
Which view is right? Well, neither, naturally, for the reasons stated, but the JC reluctantly senses [[The Man]] is on the right side of history, for a few reasons (none being the ones [[The Man]] ''thinks'' are the right reasons) but mainly because, as ever, [[This time it’s different|this time ''isn’t'' different]].  


The JC sides with the evil empire in few cases — except where it disagrees with [[libtards]]. [[South Park Republican]]ism refers.
The JC sides with the evil empire in few cases — except where it disagrees with [[libtards]]. [[South Park Republican]]ism refers.
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