LTG has been talking with business owners, senior executives and candidates internationally and many are looking at Work From Home or remote-working as the way forward for their companies and careers. While some industries have been working remote for decades many resisted for a wide range of business reasons. Some are essential to having the work done at a specific facility but many have had other rationale.  The pandemic may have forced the situation. Had this been 2-4 weeks long we would have all gone back. But the WFH Genie is out of the proverbial bottle, or the lamp now.

For some people they desire to get back to a more traditional workplace.  Some of the standards:

1. Prefer 2 distinct locations in life -- 1 for work, 1 for everything else
2. Being able to manage the group of employees in one location is preferable -- Meetings, training, management of teams and personalities has been easier.
3. Social community -- Many fully enjoy the traditional work community and build life long connections
4. Love -- A quick Google search shows various sources that cite anywhere from 20-33 percent of people met their spouse through work. What will those stats look like in a year or two from now?
5. Road Warriors with great sound systems in their cars  --  Some enjoy the commute to unwind after work cranking tunes or catch up with friends and family waiting for the gridlock to ease.  Others to continue working from the car.

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On the flip side:

1. The overhead costs  -- Keeping large commercial real estate holdings and related maintenance costs
2. Killer commutes -- 5-20 hours/week per employee in lost time now potentially used for other purposes
3. Daily Daycare Scramble -- Racing to drop them off or pick them up each day
4. Environmentally, a lower carbon footprint -- Less traffic, less pollution
5. Quality Family time -- Many parents are spending more time with their growing children

While the pandemic has been tragic in some areas it has forced the creation of new technology and initiatives that would not have happened without this global situation. We will see many new innovations in the coming years that sowed their seeds in 2020. Even in just the past year, many companies have pivoted to stay vital and even to grow during this challenging time.

We are looking forward with optimism to see what positive initiatives 2021 and 2022 brings and we look forward to partnering with both clients and candidates to be part of the changes as well as the return to normal traditional workplaces. It will be very interesting to see how many companies and employees have had their 3 wishes but want to put the WFH genie back in the lamp and return to the traditional work place versus the remote.