A polarising debate has been taking place over the last few days. On one hand you have a rare alliance between the government, media and auxiliary businesses denouncing the impact of homeworking on highstreets, career growth and the mental health of the workers themselves. On the other, you have a great majority of workers perfectly content to keep calm and carry on. No more squeezing on the tube at rush hour, no more money wasted on soggy sandwiches and coffee, no more interruptions or time lost in pointless chitchat over what you did last weekend. An era of high productivity and improved home life is upon us. But could it be that easy?
Rather than an expected gradual shift to flexible working driven by innovation in collaboration tools, an increase in the ‘gig economy’ or drive for decarbonisation, we were not given time nor choice. Over the course of a few unusual days, offices were shut down and kitchen tables were seized for the new digital future of the 2020s. We made do so well with Zoom and Teams and home made banana loaf, that office life seems from a by-gone era not fit for the modern days of self-driving cars and 3D printed buildings. But let’s not forget that they say ‘good things take time’ for a reason.
The full article appeared on Conservative Home on September 6, 2020 and can be read here.
