5 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About Workplace Disruptors

No matter how quickly we thought the workplace was changing before, the events of 2020, triggered by the global COVID-19 pandemic, turned the traditional workplace on its head. Overnight, most office-based roles became remote, with millions of workers worldwide now facing uncertain futures while organizations and governments figure out how to tackle the fast-changing crisis.

But these workplace disruptors are nothing new. There has been an increasing shift away from the traditional 9-5 office job towards distributed workforces and working from home – a process accelerated by the global pandemic. In 2000, just 3.3% of US workers worked from home, while in mid-2020, this figure had dramatically increased to 42% – and this doesn’t even include the significant proportion of self-employed workers.

This isn’t a short-term challenge. Kate Lister, the President of Global Workplace Analytics, estimates that 25-30% of us will continue to work from home as part of the “new normal.” In fact, in a survey by Perry Timms, just 1% of workers want to fully return to the office, with 57% preferring to switch to an 80% remote, 20% in-office model. It’s not just about remote working. There are other key workplace disruptors to consider.