3 lasting impacts of WFH on work cultures

Before the coronavirus pandemic, only 8 per cent of professionals in the knowledge industry engaged in WFH – or work from home.

By the second quarter of 2020, the International Labour Organisation estimates that an average of 17.4 per cent were working remotely. Statistically it takes 66 days to establish a habit: By spring of 2022, when a permanent return to working life looked possible in the majority of countries, 700 days had passed since the start of the pandemic.

New habits had been established in people’s lives, new arrangements for childcare as well as new relocations. And something else besides: re-evaluation.

Microsoft’s Work Trend Index for 2022, which surveyed more than 30,000 people in 30 countries, noted: “We’re not the same people that went home to work early in 2020.” A 2022 Gallup survey puts well-being and work-life balance almost neck and neck with pay as a priority.

There are particular trends to note:

1. The rising demand for flexible working

The flexible workplace will win over the inflexible one and the world has a new kind of worker: the flexetariat. McKinsey’s survey shows that 87 per cent of workers say that if offered flexibility they would take it. Some 58 per cent of workers across both blue- and white-collar occupations already do – they’re able to work from home at least one day a week.

Data from the recruitment firm Upwork shows that 78 per cent of freelancers cite the ability to schedule flexibility as a key concern. The global freelance market is set to grow at a compound annual rate of 15 per cent from 2021 to 2026.