The greatest transfer of workplace power in our lifetime

DESPITE all the benefits we have seen in remote work over the past year and a half, many companies are set on either going back to the office full-time or implementing a hybrid work structure.

Inertia is a powerful force. For many, it is simpler to go back to the way things were than to face the reality that change is inevitable.

Working in a business that was founded all-remote a decade ago, it is obvious that the horse has long bolted. Other businesses will reach this conclusion at their own pace. Over the next 10 years, remote work will not only remain, it will gain pace, increasingly altering our workplaces, cities, communities and economies.

Here are 6 ways remote work will evolve over the coming decade.

• Cracks will appear in hybrid work

While hybrid may appear to be the best of both worlds on paper - especially for companies that only transitioned to remote work through the pandemic - it will devolve into the worst of both worlds non-intentionally. Organisations view hybrid as an attempt to strike a middle ground, when it actually serves to alienate and divide, creating inequality in the employee experience. Organisations will increasingly discover that to thrive as a fully distributed team, investments are necessary. New skills and training are required, as is an end-to-end audit of a company's values and tool stack. The future will be won by leaders who invest fully in a remote-first, not merely allow it.

• Offices will be places where humans want to be

Offices in 2030 will be used differently. While the exterior will appear largely unchanged, the interior will not resemble offices from the pre-Covid era. More and more, offices will be used less for work and more for in-person cultural moments. They will be centre points for culture and rapport building, and will be used dynamically to service a variety of companies and ad hoc needs. Widespread remote work will create a new lease of life for office environments. The burden will shift, and offices will be tasked with persuading humans to visit as opposed to humans feeling compelled to occupy them. Expect to see innovations explode in office design, and buildings becoming more multi-use, with a particular focus on creative spaces.

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• The "great resignation" will solidify all-remote work

For digital businesses, remote work will soon be the only option. The market is already speaking. Talented knowledge workers are already voting with their feet. Across a variety of surveys, well over half of individuals who can work remotely are considering new jobs which will grant them increased flexibility. Institutional power is not easily relinquished, but neither are individual freedoms. This is the greatest transfer of workplace power in our lifetime.

• Smaller cities and suburbia will thrive

The impact of remote work on communities will continue to evolve as more workers are no longer required to commute or relocate to large cities and hubs to pursue their career. The reduction in urban migration will mean that more younger people are staying in smaller cities or out in the suburbs. These people will benefit from maintaining a sense of "home" and belonging that they have missed in the past, while the cities and local communities will benefit from increased tax dollars. With the freedom to live wherever is best for their quality of life, people will reinvest time once spent on travel and a commute to contribute to and reinvigorate their local communities.

• Big cities will forge new identities

We may choose to live in other locations, but people are social, curious beings. The desire to explore will remain a big drawcard for major cities. They will increasingly be inhabited by "super commuters" living in the suburbs or satellite cities who will occasionally travel in for combined work and social/leisure activities. These places will also see a rise in professional "nomads" keen to take their work with them and experience staying in different places for longer periods. Corporate offices will decline and be replaced by more shared and collaborative work and leisure spaces.

• Business and leisure travel will marry up

It is unlikely that we will see a return of people travelling between regional cities every week for business meetings, but the desire to travel has been pent-up for over 18 months and people are keen to fly again. Business travel will increasingly be reserved for major industry events and companywide gatherings as they come back online, and will be blended with leisure travel. Remote workers will seek to make the most of location flexibility and get more bang for their travel buck.

• The writer is head of remote at GitLab.