FEATURES / HYBRID: SERVICING REMOTE WORKERS
HYBRID’S SOFT FOCUS With hybrid working founded on greater autonomy for teams and individuals, is the conversation about how workers are managed – and how services are provided for them – likely to be a constantly evolving one from hereon? Martin Read and Bradford Keen report
s of July, figures suggested that around twothirds of employers were planning to either introduce or expand on hybrid working over the next 12 months. FMs polled at the recent Workplace Futures conference believed by a three to one ratio that there is no chance of occupancy levels ever returning to Q1 2020 levels. A KPMG Outlook survey published as we went to press detailed a huge decline in CEOs having already or planning to downsize their physical footprint, from 69 per cent last year to just 21 per cent this. Workers themselves are watching as this extraordinary global ‘work in progress’ plays out; employers, aware of needing to keep their workforces happy while they assess the operational change options the pandemic has opened their eyes to, are sending strong signals about offering new freedoms to work to final output goals instead of one-size-fits-all routines. Andy Alderson, CEO of Vanarama, expresses it this way: “So long as you’re working hard and living our
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FAC I L I TAT E S EP T EM B ER- O C TO B ER 2021
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06/09/2021 11:47