Workplace - Lets settle it.

Disclaimer:

I am writing this as a personal article (..as always) and my post is not a representation of the past or present companies that I work with. I am just a normal software engineer among the lakhs working for Indian software industry and this post is to provide a view point on the future direction of us.

March, 2020, the government of India has announced a nationwide lock down to combat the deadly Corona i.e. SARS-COV2. Life came to a standstill for many with an unknown future staring past the horizon. It has been reported that there was unprecedented mass movement of people since the partition times, with hunger in their stomach and not enough bread in their mouths. With the closure of offices to contain the virus, the future of work has become a spotlight. The IT industry in particular adapted new methods of running office, i.e. Work from Home or WFH. In due course of time, people have embraced WFH as a serious alternative to the more mainstream WFO. In the fold, I too started to experience WFH.

With the imminent threat of the virus having died down, we started to lean towards a new approach called hybrid mode. Staunch advocates of WFO resorted to the old ways, having a full week of working from office. I for a moment, failed to understand this quick revert. I thought we did well during the pandemic in keeping the businesses alive. There has been interesting posts all over Linkedin, with the opinion split among WFO, WFH or Hybrid. I thought we somehow found a way to de-congest the roads by adopting WFH, but looks like the desire to socialize has taken a priority over the not so glorifying cause of reducing pollution.

In the future, I see that there is no reason why we should revert to function as in the 1990s style of working. I see that by adopting Work from Anywhere (WFA), companies would be better positioned to attract talent that is hitherto limited to certain pockets of a country. I see the emergence of hi-tech and service economies in rural areas that would amplify the decentralization of growth. I see that those who want to have a full office experience will be put in second place to those who adopt more flexible ways. I see the vast swaths of SEZ areas being converted to high end retail or residential zones. I do not think that is impossible, even perhaps possible immediately with the right framework of policies and decisions. A hybrid mode of working will be mainstream to those not ambitious enough to embrace a fully remote mode.

I have been working for the last couple of years without seeing office even once, and I do miss the idea of saying a goodbye to a colleague in person at the end of a days work. However, I believe the social & economic outcomes of adopting a seamless mode of working outweighs the little gratification of having to return to office. However, this is my opinion and it does not matter an inch when the collective does not envision the future of work the way I see it. So either I would, like everyone else become complacent and adopt the old ways or can continue to stay ahead of the curve. The judgement will not be made today for sure.