Unlocking Hybrid Work: Weekly Reading [2/22/21]
Your weekly summary of the most important news, trends, insights, and company updates related to hybrid work.
Timelines, Insights, & Planning
Beware the rise of a “two-class” employee system [via Forbes]. Discussion on the risk/reward of a hybrid model and the need to be mindful of not creating a dual class system between in-office and remote/virtual employees.
Hybrid working needs more than just digital tools [via CDO Trends]. Hybrid isn’t all about video conferencing. Workspace setup, capacity management, hygiene protocols, and more all need to evolve.
The CEO of InspiredConsumer reinforces the shift to hybrid. [via Entrepreneur]. Mostly a reiteration of some of the key considerations and questions in going hybrid, but a helpful and brief overview for getting started on hybrid.
What happens to human connection in a hybrid future? [via Forbes]. Interviews with eight different professionals - ranging from event planners to virtual platform developers - reveal a variety of perspectives on how human connection will play out in the hybrid workplace.
Maynard Webb, former COO of eBay, and author of Rebooting Work talks about the “future of remote” [via FastCompany]. Webb is considered a pioneering thinker in remote/hybrid work, and reflects on seeing his predictions materialize due to COVID.
Diversity & Inclusion
James Manyika, a senior partner at McKinsey, discusses the impact of remote / hybrid work on diversity [via WSJ*]. Employment has historically been restricted to local access to job opportunities. But, remote/hybrid may break that model and open up meaningful new pathways to employment. [Note: We’ll explore this in-depth in a post coming soon!]
*WSJ may be subscription-restricted.
So far, hybrid & remote work disproportionately favor the educated [via BusinessInsider]. While many see virtual hiring as a chance to expand hiring pools and reach more diverse geographies, two new studies show how the COVID-era remote work has favored knowledge workers. This creates racial, income, and other disparities in access to economic opportunity during COVID.
WFH + Remote Work
The quality of your workspace has a big impact on remote work [via BBC]. A recent Stanford study revealed that only 50% of Americans work remotely from a dedicated room. This article explores how your physical space can greatly impact your satisfaction and productivity while remote.
The interplay of remote work, housing costs, and financial freedom [via MarketWatch]. Demand for housing has skyrocketed, with home prices increasing at record levels in December. A new paper from Harvard explores how remote workers are willing to spend more on home purchases, which may have a surprising impact on overall household costs.
Specific Company Updates
How “everyone remote” has led to an evolved perspective at Qualcomm, Citrix, and other large companies [via Forbes]. The remote period is spurring reflection on everything from geographic spread of offices to the types of equipment provided to employees.
HSBC sees its future with 40% less office space [via Bloomberg]. In their Q4 earnings call, HSBC shared plans to reduce office footprint meaningfully to reduce costs, reinforced by confidence in their ability to succeed via hybrid & remote work.
👏Thanks for reading! More to come later this week. 👏
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