Is it curtains for the office?

Yes, synergies. But still: Must we really haul people from here to there daily, deposit them in common quarters, parade them before one another and arrange them in rows and groups?

Open plan (Dan Perry photo)

Imagine two scenarios. In one, you bring together the most pleasant and brilliant people selected from the global population of 8 billion. In the second, you take what you can get from those within commuting distance—perhaps eight million, in a major city.

Logic suggests the former, given the thousand-times larger sample, will yield a stronger enterprise and better co-workers. You may not be able to grab a beer after work with them, but that is not the purpose of most companies. This understanding was the silver lining of opportunity on the dark and tragic cloud of Covid.

Last year was when most people put the pandemic behind them fully—and 2024 is supposed to be the big year of RTO—the "return to office" yearned for by middle managers everywhere. A study published in recent days shows that out of 1,000 company leaders surveyed about 90 percent wanted a full return and over 70 percent thought it would help revenue (despite scant evidence).

Every study shows resistance on the part of many workers. But a deeper dive into the numbers shows that a clear majority of them favor hybrid work, which suggests that they do enjoy the perks of office life. They cite "work-life balance"—which attaches to their own well-being and not the company's as such.

There is a nuance there that the discourse tends to ignore: the advantages of remote work,, such as selecting from a global talent pool, actually benefit the employer. And by availing themselves of the opportunity, they'd further save in many ways: the wasted time commuting, the energy costs of travel, the spaces and arrangements for accommodating finicky humans.

I have seen all this for years, first as a regional chief for the Associated Press in various parts of the world, and now as a partner in a PR agency whose purview is not limited to any city. The pandemic created a sea change; we sought our clients globally, and they no longer expected frequent meetings in person. Suddenly, two-week delays for in-person meetings melted away, enabling immediate action and considerable efficiency. The limitations of the past began to seem absurd.

But wait!