The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way millions of workers around the world go about their daily business, as most workers moved from office to home office during the pandemic, a situation that continues to this day. .
A number of companies have recently begun asking their employees to return to their workplaces from the office, sparking a growing wave of controversy between workers refusing to return and companies that require their workers to return in whole or in part.
A recent Ipsos study found that the majority of employees would prefer to continue working from home, with 30% of respondents saying they would look for work elsewhere if forced to return to the office.
In an interview with the American station CNBC, Mark Dixon, CEO of IWG, one of the largest office rental companies in the world, emphasized that employees do not want to return to traditional offices and consider it "a complete waste of time and money," as he puts it.
The assumption that people like to go to work every day is wrong, Dixon added, adding that employees prefer the flexibility of working from anywhere.
Disagreements between workers and companies over resettlement policies have escalated recently. Companies like Starbucks, Amazon, and Google recently introduced their own back-to-the-office policies that require employees to return some or all of their desks.
Starbucks employees have rejected the company's policy requiring workers to return to the office at least three days a week, while Amazon employees are divided on the company's requirement that employees must return to the office from May next year.
Political opposition has led to a downturn in the commercial real estate market, which Dixon says will deliver "shocks," especially as big tech companies like Amazon and Google reconsider the cost of their office space. Amazon has halted construction of its second headquarters in Virginia after thousands of workers were laid off earlier this year. And Google and Mita have taken austere measures to reduce desktop space.
And Google required some of its employees to share offices so employees could rotate between the same offices on different days of the week, leaving some of the company's buildings vacant, and the Meta decided not to renew leases for two buildings in New York last year.
But Dixon believes what's happening now could create new opportunities for companies like IWG, which specializes in "flexi-office" services that allow companies to rent out office space as needed. According to his vision, the office can serve as a network of gas stations, giving employees the opportunity to work from anywhere. IWG offices are located in more than 120 countries.
The pandemic has clearly accelerated the shift to remote work, but it's unclear how long it will take to change. Some companies may choose to return to old ways of working after the pandemic is over, while others may take a hybrid approach that combines working from home with working in the office.
However, work patterns are clearly changing and work scenes are unlikely to return to pre-pandemic conditions.