What will the workplace look like in a year? With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the world of work has been severely hit and shaken to its core. And the dust hasn’t settled yet, but one thing is clear: the assumption that office life can be made to return to what it was before 2020 is simply not true. Today, three out of four workers say the hybrid work model is non-negotiable. 2023 will be the year of the return to the office, although it will be organized in a completely different way. So how can we make our workplace healthier, more productive, and happier?

In early 2022, British HR expert Gemma Dale coined the new term “flexshaming” in a professional LinkedIn post. It well reflects the dishonesty of high-level management in relation to employees who were not physically present at the workplace. Among the most prominent of these leaders was Goldman Sachs CEO David Salomon, who in 2021 called working from home “an aberration that we will correct as soon as possible.” In October of this year, he himself, speaking to the American news network CNBC, emphasized that before the pandemic, about 75% of people in banks were in the office every day, and now the percentage is almost 65%. Even if corporate leaders think they can impose their will, legislation around the world favors flexibility. Legislative changes aimed at facilitating remote or hybrid work have already affected more than a billion people from Greece to Thailand. What is really important is to create a culture of trust and openness between managers and employees to reach solutions not by imposing rigid company policies, but by mutual agreement. In 2023, employees cannot be humiliated due to flexible working hours. On the other hand, this certainly does not mean that the hybrid working model is a “carefree trip to the mountains.”

Today, three out of four workers say the hybrid work model is non-negotiable.

According to the latest global data from real estate consultancy JLL, the separation between office and home is a major issue. About 25% of the hybrid workforce feel socially excluded, and 59% expect their health and well-being to be taken care of wherever they work. Concerns about social cohesion and productivity in hybrid offices are on the rise. Marc Benioff, founder and CEO of high-tech company Salesforce, who also sits on the board of the World Economic Forum, recently said on a Slack forum on the digital social network for all employees that the new hires weren’t productive enough. It also raised the question of whether it is possible to create a cohesive mindset within a company with new hires without an office culture.

Joanna Wash, CEO of Moneypenny, who answers calls and chats, has opened a pub at her headquarters in Wrexham, Wales. Her goal was to make the space as inviting as possible, although she herself declares herself a person who is true to the idea of ​​​​the office. However, speaking to me on the Nowhere Office podcast, he added that “wherever someone works, there has to be a right environment for them.” Speaking recently at the Drucker World Forum in Vienna, Frauke von Polier of Germany’s Viessmann Group, who has been named Pan-European CEO 2022, stressed that the new normal for companies should be three-month or one-time change pilot plans. Then they can be installed.

The data shows that 84% of the reduction in office space is due to hybrid work. However, there is a growing rethinking of the two factors in terms of sociability and investment in the work experience itself. A survey of office worker sentiment in the US by the real estate agency CBRE shows that 36% of executives curate workplace activities and activities as part of their strategy to build community and increase employee engagement in the office. I expect this percentage to increase. People need a reason to come to work that goes beyond the access to mobile technology they can get from anywhere. And the reason is one and simple: to sympathize with other people.