The Future of Work Relies on Technology and Broadband

January 29, 2021—The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many companies to completely reimagine day-to-day processes and employee management. The shift to remote work has resulted in profound consequences for many. Meanwhile, the advancement of automation, hastened by the pandemic, means that many in-person jobs that previously existed, may not post-pandemic.

The future of work for many will likely be a hybrid of working-from-home and in-person, said panelists during a Washington Post Live event, sponsored by Dell Technologies, which aired Tuesday.

Many employees of Dell Technologies have been working a remote, in-person hybrid schedule for years. Dell implemented the blend of remote work in 2009 and today 65 percent of its workforce utilizes the alternative schedule.

The decision made years ago was a cornerstone of the company’s culture and caused the company to increasingly attract talent, said Kristi Hummel, senior vice president of Human Resources at Dell.

Upon making the transition, many executives worried it would be difficult to maintain company culture, especially among new hires, said Hummel. Dell has done an excellent job of focusing on outcomes and productivity levels, instead of where and how the work is done, she said.

The office atmosphere of 2021 and 2022 will be part of a larger change in companies, predicted Adam Grant, professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Grant said the shift to virtual work will be a cause to create more collaborative virtual work spaces.

“People will not be sitting in cubicles alone and offices will become more collaborative spaces, with more team rooms and private rooms, for private conversations and calls,” said Grant.

Companies will start to think more creatively about where they want to locate their offices and headquarters, Grant said. “2020 was the year of forced rethinking, and 2021 is the year of proactive rethinking,” said Grant, adding that companies need to plan for their operations to be deliverable over virtual platforms.

According to Zoom’s Chief Operation Officer Aparna Bawa, the web-based video conferencing tool is developing new features and enhancing existing assets to adapt to the burgeoning work-from-home market.

The platform still has limitations, such as being unable to transmit human senses, such as touch, smell, and taste, but Bawa has confirmed that the company is working on creating some of these features. Zoom engineers are working to implement noise tonalities, music features, and even a ‘handshake’ feature.

For the new world of work to become a reality, it is up to companies to unlock the most productivity from their workforces, remotely, concluded Susan Lund, partner at McKinsey Global Institute.