I don’t think it’s the end of the office quite yet.  A lot of leaders underestimate the challenges of running a virtual workplace, it’s much harder than many leaders think. Also, we are human, and humans crave social interaction. Over the past few months we’ve missed seeing family, friends, colleagues and clients.

We ran a LinkedIn poll recently to find out whether office workers still want the office as part of their life, or whether people are happy to trade in office life and work from home. Of course many workers don’t get to choose, and it’s certainly a privilege to be able to do so.

• 76% who responded said they would like a combination of working from home and from the office.
• 19% of people said their preference was to work from home full time.

From our poll, and many others asking similar questions, it’s clear that the vast majority of us want the office as part of our lives and aren’t quite ready to give it up completely.

What we are already seeing, and Twitter is a good example, are companies allowing for options. If you want to work at home today just because you would like to, you can. Or if you prefer to work in the office that’s ok too. So we are certainly seeing a major shift in our working lives and the way offices are constructed and used. They are becoming much more of a “We Work” style environment, where people can collaborate, create ideas, and build strong relationships. I think whatever way of working makes someone more happy and productive is good for everyone.

“Ideas are often generated in physical gathering places where people with diverse interests encounter one another serendipitously.” Walter Isaacson

Lewis Maleh, Founder
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