FUTURE OF THE WORK IS HYBRID
A recent survey that polled more than 350 employers found that nearly two-thirds (61 per cent) of Canadian employers are using a hybrid work model. Some industries cannot adopt a hybrid mode effectively. Those who can – must! Hybrid is the natural next step in the evolution of the workspace.
The hybrid model is efficient. It attracts the best talent and opens doors for talent that would otherwise remain underutilized. The hybrid model attracts more female talent, primary caregivers, and disabled workers and opens doors to new minds and innovation.
It was not always this way. The advent of Covid-19 challenged the world in ways that we could not have imagined. In the blink of an eye, in March 2020, Ontario shut down. Roads were empty. Office towers resembled ruins with hardly a soul in sight. What seemed like an unlikely event then, has happened multiple times since, during 2020 and 2021.
While facing the challenges hurled at us by the pandemic, we were forced to come up with unconventional ways to keep businesses open. Many switched to working online from the comfort of their homes and to accommodate efficient work from home, new technologies were introduced. Employers had to come up with different policies to ensure high quality work product and continued profitability. This new mode of working remotely not only proved to be cost-effective for many employers, it also helped employees save time on the commute and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
With the introduction of vaccines and the ease of quarantine guidelines, we saw physical work resuming slowly. However, the world had changed. While it is true that remote working during covid increased work efficiency and is much more accessible than reporting to the office, it is not completely devoid of obstacles and hurdles. The most predominant one is the isolation and lack of human interaction. This was often followed by a lack of motivation to work and anxiety. Technical issues and breaches of security are some other examples of the problems faced during remote working. Not all meeting can be conducted through the computer screen.
An Ipsos survey for the World Economic Forum collected data from 12,500 employees in 29 countries. It found that a majority want flexible working to become the norm. Almost 30% said they would consider looking for another job if they were forced to go back to the office full time. Add to this the rise and fall in Covid-19 cases.
Great talent is not attracted to the idea of working entirely from the office, or working completely remotely. Employee expectations have changed, and traditional work models no longer serve them. This has allowed the hybrid working model to flourish. The definition of a hybrid working mode is not uniform, but it means providing employees with the best of both worlds, i.e., both online and offline.
According to Forbes, 73 percent of knowledge workers want to divide their time between home and office, and only 7 percent want to return to the office full time, with the ideal split being 64% of work performed from home and 36% from the office. Resultantly, many organizations are offering flexible working options to attract quality talent, which has inadvertently resulted in a demand and an acceptance of the new norm.
Employers are now in lockstep with the labour force. Multinationals, small and medium enterprises are all adopting the hybrid model. A survey found that 70% of companies say a blend of in-person and remote working will be the new normal.
What is next? Workcations: working while on an extended vacation. Hybrid work is allowing those previously unable to afford ‘bleisures’ (travel that combines business trips with leisure trips) to travel the world while continuing to earn their much needed next paycheque. More on this later.
Co-authors: Tahir Khorasanee (Employment and Labour Lawyer at Loopstra Nixon LLP) and Deeksha Nayar an LL.M. Student at Osgoode Hall Law School
