How might hybrid working affect the future of the workplace?

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically altered the face of work in the UK. One of the most significant changes has been the shift to remote and hybrid working models. What began as a way to keep businesses open during lockdowns and stagger a safe return to the office after restrictions were lifted has transformed into a workplace trend that benefits both employers and their workforces.

Now that businesses have months or even years of hybrid working experience under their belts, they can begin to explore how the hybrid model might change the purpose and appearance of the workplace. Will offices still be a central work hub or will they become collaborative spaces for team meetings and social interactions? Will it be necessary to alter the physical design of the workplace to accommodate hybrid working? What are the cost implications of a hybrid workforce?

Let’s look at five areas that may be impacted by the rise of hybrid working and what they could mean for the future of the workplace.

The purpose of the workplace

For most people in the UK, the workplace has always been exactly what it sounds like: the place we go to work. However, if hybrid working means that home can just as easily serve as a ‘workplace’, how will that affect the way we use employer work-sites?

With a hybrid work model, the office may no longer simply be a place for employees to work. Instead, it could become a place for the workforce to meet, collaborate, and socialise. The traditional heads-down at your workstation experience would give way to visiting the office to catch-up with colleagues and managers and attend face-to-face meetings.

Desk sharing and touchdown areas

If employees only spend part of their working week in the workplace, then the traditional system of assigning a workspace to one employee only is likely to prove unnecessary and ineffective. The answer is to use a desk sharing system. Desk sharing minimises the risk of an overcrowded workplace, ensures that employees have the necessary tools and resources when on-site, and optimises the use of office space.

Bookable and scheduled desk sharing will provide office space for employees when they need it. An employee can reserve a desk for the days or hours they will spend in the workplace, rather than having a dedicated desk that remains empty when they work from home.

Touchdown areas are similar to desk sharing but generally used on a shorter timescale. For instance, an employee may book a desk (desk sharing) for two days during the week. However, if that employee is in the office for an hour only and they need to work on their laptop during that visit, then a touchdown area will be more suitable.

Touchdown areas are generally less formal than a traditional office, and laptop-centric with fast internet access. Touchdown areas may be bookable, for instance, as a meeting or collaboration space, or simply provided on a casual, first come first served basis.

Communication

One communication development that most workers became familiar with during periods of lockdown is the use of video-calls via tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Cisco Webex. The increasing adoption of hybrid working has necessitated the continued use of video-calls and conferencing, but what does this mean for the workplace?

One consequence might be the creation of areas designed to provide the privacy and quiet needed to watch, listen, and speak during a video-call. This would allow for meetings that included both on-site and at home workers while reducing disruption to other workers who are in the office on that day.

Similarly, these areas could be used for meetings that take place in virtual spaces such as the Metaverse.

Workplace overheads

Workplace overheads include costs such as rent, utility bills, and business property rates. Hybrid working may provide a way for employers to reduce their workplace overheads. With less hours spent on-site by each hybrid employee and workstations shared rather than assigned to one worker only, it may be possible to reduce the size of the workplace and make it a more flexible space that adapts to the needs of the workforce.

Equipping a mobile workforce

One hefty challenge of managing a hybrid workforce is enabling them to work from anywhere, be that home, the office, or at a client base. For employers, this means:

• providing suitable technology such as laptops, mobile devices, collaboration and communication software, and access to the internet
• striking a balance between providing employees with access to company systems and data and protecting company/client information by implementing firewalls, two-factor authentication, and encryption
• ensuring that the health and safety of employees is protected and monitored wherever they work, for instance, by providing advice on how to set up a home workstation that will reduce the risk of injury
• providing training and support for employees to make sure that they are sufficiently equipped to work on a hybrid basis and know how to use equipment and software

Permanent workstations, including the provision of desktop computers, are unlikely to suit a mobile workforce who carry their workstations with them. Instead, workspaces must be adapted so that employees can access company systems and utilities, such as the power supply for a laptop, when they visit the office.

Wrapping it up

Hybrid working has been widely adopted by UK employers since the pandemic lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. While businesses are still scaling the steep learning curve of adapting to hybrid working practices, the signs are that the future of the workplace is intrinsically linked to this new way of working. The purpose of the workplace is likely to shift to a more collaborative and social model than in the past, adapting to the requirements of a workforce on the move.