"Working nine to five, that's no way to make a living," sang Dolly Parton, and over the last decade and, in particular since the COVID pandemic, many have been inclined to agree with her. "The nine-to-five has been fading for a while," says Dr Millard. "It's a change that's been led by the fact we have devices that are always connected and always on us. They demand our attention all the time and effectively tether people back to their work, regardless of whether they are in an office or at home. Over the last few years, we've been observing a blurring of the boundaries, largely because technology was blurring them for us."
According to Millard, technology offers three components that have enabled progress and made the need for a physical office less relevant – connectivity, collaboration tools and the cloud. "It's a holy trinity that enabled organizations to rapidly deploy homeworking during the pandemic that simply didn't exist 20 years ago."
The COVID pandemic has acted as a catalyst for hybrid working, allowing people to experience the power of these technological tools to flex the boundaries of work towards their own needs. For example, in research BT conducted with Cisco, 73% of 1500 executives surveyed said they believe using collaboration apps from home improves employee well-being, seeing cutting ties with the office as an opportunity to live and work in a place of their choice. "Home working was not as mainstream as it could have been prior to the pandemic," says Millard. "Now we're in an interesting period where we're taking the learning from the pandemic and are trying to adapt to a world where the big word is 'hybrid'.
In research BT conducted on hybrid working patterns globally[1], they found that neither five days in the office, nor five days at home is the norm anymore, but something in-between. And that that 'in-between' ebbs and flows: "February was the peak for people being in the office in the UK earlier this year," she says they found, highlighting the coincidence of cold temperatures and high cost of living meaning a day spent in the office offers employees what she calls greater "value for commute".
[1] https://www.globalservices.bt.com/en/insights/whitepapers/the-best-of-both-worlds-building-a-successful-hybrid-workplace