Remote Control

HAVE LAPTOP, WILL TRAVEL. THE WORLD IS CATCHING ON TO THE IDEA THAT WORKING REMOTELY DOESN’T NECESSARILY MEAN WFH. WELCOME TO THE POST-PANDEMIC AGE OF DIGITAL NOMADS, HYBRID WEEKS AND THE HALF TOURIST.

- ROB PEGLEY

Because necessity is the mother of invention, COVID-19 has spawned a tribe of innovative changes. Perhaps the biggest of these has been flexible home working arrangements and Zoom culture. For years, companies have largely been resistant to the idea of individuals working from home – pre-pandemic it was virtually seen as a day of lounging. Then in mid-March 2020, the whole world was sent home to work and just got on with it.

To the surprise of many executives, business didn’t suddenly grind to a halt. In fact, for many organisations, productivity held or actually went up, while costs went down. Now it’s just seen as working virtually.

While many of the coronavirus-forced changes in the world will hopefully one day be reversed, remote working seems here to stay. And it’s likely to have a huge long-term impact on real estate and travel – where we live (both in terms of geography and choice of property) and how we blend work with travel in a less compartmentalised way.

KPMG recently released a number of observations it had made during COVID-19. These included a rapid largescale shift to remote working, organisations investing in remote working technology and infrastructure, and a surge in the popularity of virtual communication platforms. To be honest, you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to have spotted those trends.

But beyond these developments, which we’ve all seen in our own workplaces, KPMG makes predictions for the future: that the volume of remote working will endure; that the nine-to-five workday will be challenged; the hybrid week (partially in the office, partially from home) will continue; and that work will be regarded as ‘a thing you do, rather than a place you go’.