Overview
Separating work from the workplace won’t be easy, but it is a likely possibility. The outcomes, though perhaps favorable to workers, may prove destructive to the quiet infrastructure constructed around the workday. Restaurants which rely on busy lunch breaks, airports that cater to business travelers, and hotels will suffer. On the other hand, business will shift toward technology that enables smooth remote work. The very landscape of the country may diversify as people en masse become accustomed to a work-from-home lifestyle.
Takeaways
- What is the new infrastructure surrounding work? Instead of having business meetings at the same restaurant, will we rely on delivery services?
- What is the future of business travel? How can it be combined with the other assets of traveling, like cultural immersion, curiosity, and exploration?
- Is there a possibility for work tourism?
Excerpts
- “You live where you work” is a truism as ancient as grain farming; which means it’s as ancient as the city itself.
- “When the pandemic is over, one in six workers is projected to continue working from home or co-working at least two days a week”
- “If business travel falls off by 10 or 20 percent, it could mean fewer jobs across airlines, hotels, and restaurants”
- “Emptier offices mean fewer weekday lunches at restaurants, fewer happy hours, and fewer window shoppers”
- “Telepresence will almost certainly increase in the aftermath of this crisis, and the history of retail suggests that the transition of huge swaths of commercial activity to the internet has huge economic implications”
- “there is one place where the majority of adults ages 25 to 55 have kept showing up, almost every day, of almost every week. At work.”
- “Remote workers will spend more money and time inside their houses; they will spend more time with online communities than with colleagues; and many will distribute themselves across the country, rather than feel it necessary to cluster near semi-optional headquarters.”
Stakeholders
- Workers
- Communities
- Business Travel
- Workforces
Thompson, Derek. “The Workforce Is About to Change Dramatically.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 6 Aug. 2020, www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/just-small-shift-remote-work-could-change-everything/614980/.
