The concept of the workspace has been radically changed thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. It showed employees just how good it can be and has put a truly sour distaste for long, traffic-filled commutes. Not every role can be remote, but those that can should at least be flexible. On top of this, more countries are investigating switching from a five-day work week to a four-day work week. Instead of a 9 to 5, however, the hours on those four days would be longer to make up for the missing fifth day.
Even with the longer work day, the results from those studies, both for businesses and employees, have been a resounding success. It means that each person has more time off, which they can then use to tackle household chores and get out there and spend their money, which boosts the local economies and puts more money in customers’ pockets. It’s a great way to inject life into the economy! Between that four-day work week, remote work, and the rising costs that have meant just heating or cooling large office spaces has become a pricey expense. It’s no wonder that workspaces are changing in these key ways:
· Downsizing and Relocating
It’s hard to justify the extremely high expense of managing a large office space, especially if it’s in a downtown area. This is particularly true considering you can relocate to where suits you best and still benefit from that central London address by using a yourcityoffice.com virtual office service instead. This way, you can appear to be central without paying to be central. You can even book meeting rooms at that downtown location if needed, meaning that downsizing or relocating has just become a no-brainer.
· Swapping to Four-Day Weeks
Four-day weeks have had amazing results and show that they can help boost each worker’s health and wellbeing, which in turn drives up productivity. Add onto the fact that you are only losing out on one to two hours of work per week (which wouldn’t have been productive anyway, considering the dreaded Friday lull); swapping over to the four-day approach can be innovative for businesses. Some top talent will actively take a pay cut by going to you for the four-day workweek to establish a healthy work/life balance.
· Be Flexible!
Online work isn’t just possible. It’s productive! While you may still need people to come into the office, make it a flexible option. Adopt a hybrid approach that brings people in on certain days so those collaborative meetings can happen simultaneously. Or you can simply be adaptable. Have the standard work day be in office, but let workers swap over to remove whenever they need. They may feel under the weather, need to take care of a kid sick at home, or may even be stuck due to train strikes. You can offer ten remote days per month, for example, that can be taken at each employees’ discretion. This will allow for happier employees, and can also mean you get more productivity, for less.
