FUTURE OF WORK


HYBRID WORKING between home and office has become routine for millions, although the process is not always without tensions, while millions more continue to be required to attend a workplace. Oliver Graves, Deloitte director in


Organisation, Design and Analytics, noted: “There is a challenge where employees want to maintain some of the flexibility they had during Covid and organisations in certain industries have been putting their foot down, saying, ‘You need to be in at this time’.” He argued: “The first movers around


that were castigated, but over the last 12 months there has been more of a move to saying, ‘We need you in the office’. Having said that, I don’t think many organisations are counting the times people scan in. But there are more checks on performance and ‘visibility’ seems to come up more. “Many organisations have gone


through layoffs. It’s not as secure a job environment. Also, people are being more collegiate, especially in junior grades, feeling, ‘I want to get to know people therefore I want to be in the office’. “A lot of people are going in on


Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and more limited numbers on Mondays and Fridays. You can tell that wandering around London and other cities. “Businesses are saying, ‘We expect you


to be in for this amount of time’. More businesses are also saying, ‘We operate this environment for a purpose. We want you to come together as a group’. ‘Purpose’ – meaning why we do what we do – is always challenging. If people work remotely, it’s difficult to manage and maintain. “So, more people are in the office and


spending more time in the office and being told it is advisable to be in, with job security increasingly becoming a factor.” There are clearly implications in terms


of workspace, after many businesses downsized or did away with locations all together during the pandemic.


‘There has been a reality check’


Recruitment pressures have eased, now could generative AI fundamentally change many roles?


Graves said: “Businesses which have


a considerable workforce and can’t cope at maximum capacity are reorganising space. Real estate vacancy rates have gone up. Friends in real estate say they have never been busier with people wanting different premises. Businesses want to minimise costs and you see the amount of empty office and retail space.” Deloitte senior consultant Gabriella


Cooper agreed: “The workspace is changing, but also how the workspace is used. There is an emphasis on hybrid working, enabling people to come together in person, but also space to allow people to communicate with those not in the office. So, rather than just having lots of meeting rooms, it’s about enabling meeting rooms, making sure they are set up to enable hybrid working.” Graves suggested the shortage of labour


since the pandemic has meant “there has never been a better time to work in travel and hospitality from the point of view of shift patterns and benefits”. He insisted: “I only see that increasing. “Flexibility for those with families


HYBRID working appears to have become the norm in business travel (Figure 31)


has never been more prominent because recruiting workers has never been more challenging. There has been an element of having to rebuild trust in travel


FIGURE 31: WORK TRENDS: BUSINESS TRAVEL


Flexible working practices Don’t know


Full-time remote


+3


Full-time in office


15% 68%


in-person & virtual


Equal, % change Y0Y Source: GBTA, October 2023 Travel Weekly Insight Report 2024 23 38% 23% in-person More -4 16% 1%


Hybrid, in office & home


In person & virtual meetings, 2024


Predominantly virtual


More virtual


21% 3%


Predominantly in-person


14%


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