The Hybrid Return to Office Has Challenges

The San Francisco Business Times had a few recent articles that raised excellent issues regarding employees returning to the office. If the employer doesn’t mandate which days the employees should come to work the result might be days when only a handful of folks are back in the office, defeating the synergy and physical interface employers are looking for. This also diminishes employee flexibility. Also, you don’t want the workers to be in the office stuck on all-day zoom calls with their remote co-workers, the worst of both worlds. “Beyond the management complexities that’ll likely come with hybrid work, company leaders are tasked with figuring out how to make a semi in-office, semi-remote workforce equitable. That includes redesigning or reconfiguring office spaces to accommodate needs of employees, including those most reluctant to come back.” Kay Sargent, director of the workplace practice at HOK Group said “we really need to rethink what is the purpose of the workplace – why am I coming to the office?” Buildings Magazine Sept/Oct 2021 had an article on returning to smarter, safer buildings utilizing 5G and IoT (Internet of Things). “Commercial building executives are expected to utilize smarter technologies in managing regular cleaning and sanitization, proper office ventilation, smart entry control, temperature measuring devices, and space optimization for social distancing. They can track where employees go at the office, what areas need more or less cleaning or more or less ventilation. CBRE did a study of 350 million square feet of office space and found that 79% of companies are tracking employee-badge swipes at entry points, 56% are using visual observation, 46% monitor office WiFi log-ins and 26% are using sensors in rooms and desks. What at first glance may look fairly simple can in reality be quite complex!