Logging out from burnout

After a year of the boundaries between work and home gradually blurring, people are craving more control over where, when and how they log on.

36%
of Millennials see themselves as part of a global workplace
53%
want a mix of working both in the office and remotely
37%
want to return to the office full-time

Kids wandering into the background of a Zoom call was once viral video gold. Now it’s an everyday occurrence. While WFH may have initially provided some welcome respite from the office, a year on we’ve all learned far more about our co-workers’ home lives than we ever desired.

People are also beginning to feel the burnout of work intruding on their personal space. Only 10% want to continue working remotely full-time, compared to 37% who want to return to the office, and 53% who’d prefer a mix of both.

Logging out from burnout

This split in opinion is turning the office into the first battleground of post-Covid life. Some employees will choose to create clear boundaries between work and home; whereas others will flock to companies that offer them the flexibility to decide how and when they work.

People expect brands to create a sense of unity as much in the workplace as in the world at large. The workplace of the future will be built on autonomy, flexibility and individuality.

Now brands must ask themselves:

Am I ready to give my employees the autonomy they desire?

Am I clinging onto old ways of working?

Could I be doing more to create a truly flexible and fair workplace, both remotely and IRL?

Sarah McGuigan

Sarah McGuigan, Strategist, Venturethree

Covid-19 swept away old assumptions about how working life ‘has to’ operate. Now, as the world reopens, brands must do all they can to preserve employees’ autonomy and flexibility, while at the same time helping individuals maintain healthy boundaries between work and leisure. We’re seeing the most progressive brands embrace this unique moment -- not as a threat to shared working culture, but as an opportunity to reshape it for the better, with new sensitivity and imagination.