Return to the office or turn digital nomad? If only ordinary workers had that choice
Is the office dead? Or have rumours of its death been greatly exaggerated? The pandemic has already spawned a million think pieces on the subject. Now that Boris Johnson has dropped work-from-home guidance and some big companies are starting to tell staff to come back in, brace yourself for a gazillion more.
If you don’t have time to navigate the debate, here’s a handy summary: the future of work looks very different depending on who you ask. People who have spent the pandemic Zooming from spacious holiday homes, and those with a financial stake in remote work, seem to be adamant that the days of trudging to an office are over. People with a financial stake in commercial real estate and ancillary industries, meanwhile, have been working overtime extolling the virtues of in-person work.
One big proponent of the “offices are for ever” crowd is an architect called Clive Wilkinson who (this will shock you) designs office spaces. Not just any office spaces, mind you: Wilkinson is the guy responsible for Google’s fancy headquarters in California. He’s got some regrets about the Googleplex now: in a recent interview with NPR, Wilkinson admitted that too many on-site perks can be “dangerous” because employees never have any reason to leave the office. Still, Wilkinson said the office may need to be reimagined but that doesn’t mean it’s dead. “The office is the fermenting ground for people growing into successful adults,” he opined. “How would that ever be dead?” I’m not going to answer that. I’m just going to say his thoughts on the matter may have fermented a little too long.
Meanwhile, on the other extreme of the debate, is Brian Chesky, Airbnb’s CEO and a man who clearly hasn’t spent the last two years quietly weeping as he
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