After a four-hour brainstorm session, your colleagues return home for the rest of the work day. You decide to finish up your work at the same location before running some errands. After all, the commute home is a quick 15 minutes - compared to an hour if the meeting were to take place on company premises - and you will still make it home in time for dinner with the family.

The reality of such a flexible work arrangement is closer than we think.

With the recent easing of Covid-19 restrictions at the workplace, companies in Singapore and the rest of the world are looking into the specifics of how to carry out a more permanent mix of remote and on-site working for their employees.

Great expectations

Over the last two years, companies have put in place improved technology platforms, reimbursed employees for home office equipment and implemented business continuity plans that would facilitate work-from-home arrangements. But even in the post-pandemic world, most companies are unlikely to return to or enforce a fully on-site working arrangement.

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According to results from the WeWork and Workplace Intelligence The Future of Work is Hybrid survey of 1,000 C-suite and 1,000 non-C-suite employees, most workers expect to "continue working from home at least a few days a week, and businesses intend to support this arrangement because productivity has generally not declined due to remote working."

But across the globe, employees are increasingly expecting far more from their employers. The same survey found that post-pandemic, "employees want to split their time between their company HQ, home, and other locations such as satellite offices, co-working spaces, and public 'third spaces' like a library or café", with 75 per cent willing give up at least one benefit or perk for the freedom to choose their work environment.

Experts in the field believe that a growing number of companies are likely to support this hybrid approach to the office model - where employees can combine working from home with working from an office or another location - and will follow through with new and improved workplace configurations.

"The design of the future office space is likely to centre on flexibility," opines Mr Sing Tien Foo, director of the Institute of Real Estate and Urban Studies at the National University of Singapore, in a piece published in the Business Times. "Firms could reconfigure physical offices to create hybrid spaces for mixed use to support a more collaborative and less structured working environment. The combination of core and flexible space could reduce firms' risks of over-leasing permanent spaces that are not used."

He adds: "Indeed, people will still need workspaces where they can connect face-to-face and build relationships and careers. With enabling technologies, the size and scale of those physical spaces and operations would require re-calibrating, but without losing sight of public health and safety."

Workspace solutions for different needs and budgets

Co-working operators would naturally be the likely main players in this hybrid office model of the future. One of the biggest operators that has grown tremendously over the last few years, even pre-pandemic, is WeWork. It offers a variety of workspace solutions - ranging from dedicated offices and desks to pay-as-you-go spaces - for businesses large and small to help cater to changing demands.

In Singapore, employers can rent regular office space in one of WeWork's 14 co-working spaces, located mostly in the Central Business District and downtown regions.

Individuals or firms with smaller teams can rent a dedicated desk in a shared office or a fully-furnished, private office space with shared amenities. Companies that want to cater to 100 employees or more can commit to the Full Floor Office, which can be configured based on its work style, design preference and business needs. The latter even offers branded entrances, and private conference rooms, executive offices, phone booths and well-stocked pantries.

These spaces are designed with a distinct aesthetic direction to inspire creativity. Networking events, lunches and wellness activities provide employees unique opportunities to connect with others sharing the same space, while enhanced cleaning and social distancing measures provide an ease of mind without compromising on workplace camaraderie.

To better meet the increased demand for flexibility, WeWork now also offers two different memberships: All Access and In Demand.

Under the monthly All Access membership, employees can have access to all of WeWork's co-working spaces, instead of committing to one location. The In Demand membership offers even more freedom of choice: its pay-as-you-go option enables individuals to book a desk by the day or a meeting room by the hour as and when needed, all through the WeWork On Demand app.

Says WeWork CEO Sandeep Mathrani: ​​"WeWork's core value proposition is flexibility. We're flexible in how much space you take. You have flexibility in the amount of time you take. And we're flexible in portability of cost."

And as companies continue to experiment with varying workspace permutations to find the best match for business needs, WeWork is well-placed to help usher in a new era of the office model.

Ready to find your perfect office space? Visit www.wework.com/info/access-memberships to find an office solution that works for you.