I recently visited a life sciences company known for its clinical and commercial successes. Impressed by the facilities and the lively energy around me, I asked my host about the company’s policy on work location. Employees were asked to report to the office three days a week—days chosen by the team, not by senior management.
Flexible workspaces accommodated the different needs of different teams and tasks, and complimentary breakfast was available in a spacious, light-filled cafeteria. “People want to be here,” the executive explained. Employees showed up more, not less, than stated in the policy. Looking around, it was easy to see why you would want to be in this beautiful building with its hard-working, smart professionals eager to reduce patient suffering.
This company is a look at a trend that will become common in 2024: Once enough people are in the office, the majority will want to be there, too. FOMO will replace “you can’t make me”. Push to return to office (RTO) will be replaced by pull.
Research and popular media coverage of telecommuting over the past three years have identified clear advantages (rejecting the commute) and disadvantages (loss of mentoring or innovation) of working from home.
As such, it was clear that navigating a return to the office would require creative solutions and thoughtful experimentation. However, RTO policies are usually formulated as mandates or, worse, as universal hard plans. The result is frustration and resistance. For example, when Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently announced an RTO policy, workers demonstrated in protest.
In 2024 however, as more and more people realize some of the joys of returning to the office, the simple narratives of “us vs. them,” “employees vs. bosses,” “young vs. old” will dissipate. The future of work—if it is to be effective in producing the products and services that companies hope to provide to their customers—will need to be co-created. Many factors will stimulate the creative process, starting with the nature of the work itself. It should be noted that some of the work can be done anywhere, alone, without harm to productivity or quality (article writing); other work can only be done together and in person (caring for hospitalized patients). A vast landscape of work lies somewhere in between, its quality defined by how effectively changing configurations of people and skills come together to deliver products and services.
For example, a study of employee proximity conducted at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that sitting close to senior colleagues made junior engineers learn more and be less likely to quit, an effect that was particularly pronounced in women and younger employees. Differences in job types may help explain the statistic that 12 percent of full-time employees work from home; 60 percent fully personal and 28 percent hybrid. While the numbers vary widely by source—for example, a McKinsey study estimated that 58 percent could work from home at least one day a week—they certainly show that work is underway.
