Lockdowns are over. WFH isn’t. Why?
Tim Harford asks this question in the weekend’s FT.
Spoiler alert in case you’ve missed the bleeding obvious…
It’s because most people prefer WFH. And it took a global pandemic for people to twig and for WFH to be
normalised.
WFH is more flexible, more comfortable and removes the daily commute.
But actually, I think there’s a more fundamental reason people prefer
WFH.
And it’s this:
For centuries, where you work affected where you set up home. The two were tied together.
But as we’ve seen recently, this tie has been cut.
Or, at the very least, is fraying.
WFH means there's more choice to set up home where you want. Independent of where you work.
But it doesn’t stop here.
Your job no longer dictates where you live.
So why should it dictate when you see your friends and family? How you spend your evenings? Or even how you
work, when you work or what you work on?
And the answer is: it shouldn’t. These are all remnants of a pre-technological age.
The way we work hasn’t caught up yet. But it will. The genie is well and truly out of the bottle.
And I think people are starting to sense that the days of arranging their whole life around work are coming to an end.
So the more fundamental reason people prefer WFH is because it signals a shift in the balance of power away from work.
With this in mind…
Harford finishes his article by asking the question:
What other habits have we acquired that we should be re-thinking?
Let me offer you three. And I'll do my best Mystic Meg impression and give you three predictions
too.
All based on the idea that the way we work today is stuck in the mud and no longer reflects the global, hi-tech world we live in. Just as WFH has shown.
Here they are:
The traditional model of full-time employment is outdated. Over time, this will move to a corporate gig economy model where employees work on a project-by-project basis on the projects they choose. Just like WFH has increased flexibility, autonomy and choice for employees, this shift will do the same.
Prediction: The Rise of the Corporate Gig Economy Model
Today, people fall into one
of a handful of working roles (e.g. employee, freelancer, entrepreneur). But I don't see any reason these can't overlap. And the idea of working in a single, defined way is already starting to be challenged, as the surge of the side hustle shows. Soon, more people will work as a hybrid of employee, freelancer and entrepreneur, all at the same time.
Prediction: The Rise of the Emplanceur
If anything embodies the idea that we arrange our lives to fit around work, it’s the fact work happens within set hours on set days. It’s only a matter of time before the 9 to 5 becomes the 24/7. Not in the sense that you’re always switched on. But in the sense that any individual will have complete freedom to choose when they
work – and when they don’t.
Prediction: The Death of the 9
to 5
These are my predictions.
What are yours?
Catch you tomorrow.
- Tom
p.s. Whenever you're ready, here are the ways you can connect with me