Category: Your Business (Page 4 of 30)

Google will try “hybrid” workplace models

home office

Google is finding that many employees want to return to the office, but not necessarily on a full-time basis. Many would prefer the option to work from home and then come into the office when needed and for meetings and events.

This hybrid model may become more common, and certainly provides flexibility that will be sought by many employees.

It also raises challenges of course. Companies like Google need to consider of some employees can be mostly virtual so that they don’t have to live in hyper-expensive cities like San Francisco.

But flexibility is a good thing if managed correctly. So get ready to hear of more “hybrid” workplace solutions.

Leisure and hospitality jobs are hardest hit

cruise ship

This article gets into which jobs have been lost due to the Coronavirus by sector, and not surprisingly the Leisure and Hospitality sector leads the way. It’s hard to imagine these types of jobs coming back soon as many people will be afraid to travel and congregate until a vaccine is available.

The other challenge will be slower economic activity in general. Jobs tied to consumer spending will have trouble rebounding if the overall economy is still in recession.

Some post-pandemic workplaces will be a “hybrid model”

workers at computer stations

How soon will workplaces return to normal? In many cases, will there be a new normal?

Not surprisingly, the answers will vary sector-to-sector and business-to-business.

Cisco Systems CEO Chuck Robbins said the following: “I think you’ll see many employees that will continue to work from home, you’ll have many that will get back to the office and then you’ll have some that’ll do a little bit of both.”

Companies that navigate this successfully will have a huge advantage over companies who don’t adapt, and this can lead to greater productivity and also reduce overhead costs such as expensive office space in the future.

Danger of a prolonged recession affecting job market

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell threw some cold water on the notion of a quick snap-back for the economy and job markets in the wake of the Coronavirus. He argued that policymakers may have to use additional weapons to pull the country out of a crisis that has cost at least 20 million jobs and caused “a level of pain that is hard to capture in words.”

This doesn’t bode well for many sectors like travel and dining and will make it very difficult for jobs to come back quickly.

Twitter will allow employees to work for home permenantly

twitter-1848505_640

Many have been predicting that we will see changes in work from home policies across many industries as a result of the Coronavirus. But this is still a surprise. By announcing that all employees will have the option of working from home, Twitter is setting the bar for other companies thinking about how to handle this issue.

Of course this raises a host of issues as well. Is it an either/or choice for employees? Or can they select a hybrid approach? Can they primarily work from home but then come in from time to time? Also, how will this affect the future of Twitter’s San Francisco HQ and other offices? Can this be a critical first step in easing the crowding in some of our largest cities?

It will be fascinating to see how this plays out.

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