FUTURE OF WORK
The best of both worlds
Working from home has changed what people want and need from an office. Framery’s pods bring areas for video calls and quiet work into the dynamic open office plan. TEXT: DAVID J. CORD
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hat kind of office are workers returning to after the pandemic? Maybe a better question is: what kind of workers are returning to the office after the pandemic? When people worked at home they became accustomed to quiet spaces and video conferencing. Now they are returning to open offices which were not built with the modern working environment in mind. Working methods evolve faster than architecture. “People are eager to replicate the best work-from-home perks in the workplace,” explains Framery’s Founder & CEO, Samu Hällfors. Framery is a Tampere, Finland-based company which was founded in 2010. Their idea is to create soundproof office phone booths, pods and private spaces to solve the noise and privacy issues in open offices. This was a great idea when open offices became popular, but it is even a better idea in the post-pandemic working environment.
Creative and dynamic, but loud and chaotic There are many great things about open offices. They offer more opportunities for communications and creative
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BUSINESS CLASS | HELSINKI-VANTAA EDITION | AUTUMN 2022
interactions. Surveys have shown that workers are ready to return to the office after the pandemic and have real-world interactions with their colleagues and customers again. But like everything in business, there are always compromises to be made. Open offices can be noisy, busy places. Over 50% of people have a hard time concentrating in open-plan offices, according to the University of Sydney. Also, sometimes your conversations shouldn’t be overheard by all of your colleagues. The challenges of open space offices have become worse after the pandemic. About 40% of people say their ability to concentrate in open offices has significantly worsened after the pandemic, according to a Framery survey of 4,000 white collar workers in America. Additionally, the way of working has changed. Video conferencing is the new normal and will probably increase 500% compared to pre-pandemic levels. “The majority of companies have already noticed a shortage of places to have video meetings in the office,” says Hällfors. “They are working on solving these needs now.”
