Post-pandemic humanism (and renaissance) in the workplace

In the West, there are a lot of changes after more than two years of ‘lockdowns’ and the official lifting of the pandemic. One facet of life that has undergone the greatest change is in the workplace. Working from home has caused tectonic shifts mostly for the better when it comes to employees, and a lot of positive things for certain businesses and employers as well.
Some would say, we are now at the stage where many Canadian employers are establishing a return-to-work policy and strategy for a minimum of two to three days per week in the office. And although for all industries and companies, including civil services, the common denominator is increased efficiency with working from home. The conclusion is that every job involves teamwork and that it is almost impossible to ascertain without a hybrid work system.
For a moment, one may wonder why there is so much noise about nothing! The employer, as usual, bangs his fist on the table and the sheep return to the flock! But in the meantime, a miracle happened. The iron fist approach no longer has the same cause and effect. The power of employers in relation to employees, at least in this matter, is threatened, and the current causes concern to those who are in management. Returning to the office has become a sensitive topic. Most employees are against it, because they suddenly get more free time during the workday, instead of very long drives to work and overtime in the office. Nobody wants to "switch from horse to donkey", not even the CEO’s who have been tasked by companies with promoting ‘return to work’. Now, for this change, the rules of the so-called "implementing changes", for which, according to theory, the most important thing is to implement changes gradually and with open and clear communication with employees, as well as adapting changes in accordance with the opinion and willingness of employees. And the reactions (and actions) of employees have already begun to emerge. Many leave their current jobs and move to other companies. Working from home conditions have become one of the main, if not the main, bargaining points in employment, perhaps on par with salary and has become one of the easiest ways to steal an employee from his or her current company. Why would someone work the entire week from the office if they can work at least three days from home, from a cottage, and even from a foreign country and all for the same (or more) money!
The current power relationship between employers and employees has placed employees in a far better bargaining position than at any other time in recent past (except for the time beforeY2K which many people remember when they were employed in I.T., employees even received a bonus for bringing a new employee to the company). Coincidentally, the pandemic occurred at a time when many baby boomers were retiring and many jobs were becoming available. Although, it is possible that the pandemic accelerated the decision of people to retire, realizing during the pandemic that life is short and that it is not necessary to work until one's seventies and beyond.
It is likely that in the future, master's and doctoral studies will be conducted about changes in the business world and working conditions as a result of the pandemic of the 2020s. It is also possible that anthropological studies will be done on the changes in humanity caused by the new work regime. There will also be scientific studies and books about the impact on the human psyche, quality of life and changes in life values, due to the new balance between work and private life.
Although employers still remain profit and productivity oriented, the impression is emerging, and hope is being born that we are entering a new renaissance in which future work and labor relations, usher in more humane privileges. We will also have more choices about where to live, since the location of work will no longer influence the choice of location to live as much. And thanks to such drastic changes in the workplace, the new generations have a future with more free time for family and friends, culture, and hobbies, as well as nature and a healthy lifestyle, all with greater human freedom.

The pandemic period has already been called a time machine, and working conditions in the post-pandemic period will largely be conditioned by the changes that occurred during the pandemic.
Here are some predictions of changes and trends that will emerge in the workplace.

HYBRID MODE IS THE NEW NORM

With around 75% of employees voting for a hybrid job or just working from home, there's no doubt that companies don't have too many choices. It is estimated that companies that return to the five-week working week from the office will lose up to 40% of their employees. Nevertheless, the predictions are that not all employees will benefit from the hybrid way of working and that conditions will be created for a new type of discrimination, primarily fewer opportunities for career advancement for those who are less present in the office. Here again, it emerges that women, who will be more suited to a more flexible hybrid system, will face even more of the status quo in their careers.
Because of hybrid work, meetings will almost never be held live, and business trips will be drastically reduced.

JOB CHANGES BECOME COMMON

Already according to surveys, around 50% of employees have stated that the introduction or non-introduction of flexible working will to be, so there will be more jobs and companies to choose from. Also, it will be easier for an employee working in a hybrid model to "detach" from one company and join another, especially in cases where the organization has not developed a strong culture at work and influenced the finding and retention of good experts in the company by various methods.

SHORTER WORK WEEKS ARE NEXT ON THE AGENDA

Given the slowdown in the economy and the inability of some companies to continue paying the same number of employees, it is predicted that many employers will offer workers fewer hours.

ELECTRONIC MONITORING OF EMPLOYEES IS EXPANDING

During the pandemic and working from home, employers were forced to use technology to monitor work and control employees, through virtual check-in and check-out. Monitoring the use of the employee's business network, reviewing internal communications and emails, etc. Companies using technological tools continue to improve methods of controlling productivity and engagement of employees at work.

A BETTER BALANCE BETWEEN WORK AND PRIVATE LIFE BECOMES ACHIEVABLE

It gives the impression that employees in today and in the future are given the power and choice to focus on their well-being and work-life balance. Before the pandemic, this was largely a pipe dream, at least in North America. In the brave new world, employees expect work flexibility, they want to keep their assigned personal workplace (as before the pandemic), and not the so-called "hotel" workplace that is shared with another employee also requires that privacy be maintained during work. Finally, it is becoming a trend that employers are expected more than ever to understand and invest in the physical and mental health of their employees. Employers who have developed a culture and policy that not only supports work, but also the health and well-being of employees, have the best chance of retaining talented professionals. 

NEW TREND - "DISGUISED SLACKING"

A new trend in the workplace, which has been talked about a lot lately, could be translated as "quiet quitting". Several employees tend to work less and slower than before, not to exceed basic expectations, not to allow themselves to "burn out" at work, but only to cover the minimum requirements of the job. With this approach, the employee does not have the desire to be removed from payroll, but instead, to avoid the risk of being fired by the employer, to secure a better balance between private life and work and to prevent situations in which they will "burn out from excessive and overtime work". Therefore, many refuse to accept the name slacking, which has a negative connotation, but prefer to say that it is just "normal work". There are already different theories about this trend. Some believe that the trend is as old as "work for pay", while others attribute this only to the younger generation, which is spoiled and values the balance between private life and work much more, and money and material goods mean less to them. However, from the media and controversial LinkedIN posts andTikTok-this gives the impression that this trend was expanding during the pandemic and is continuing. The explanation is that many at work during the pandemic worked much more than before, mostly due to the lack of manpower caused by the reduction in the number of employees in companies, so many experienced "burnout" at work, which those who practice "disguised slacking" want to prevent this from being to be repeated in the future. It may be that this growing trend has also been contributed to by the fact that employees have become tired of working too efficiently from home, taking less frequent breaks than at work with conversations and gossiping with colleagues “around the water cooler". They felt the beauty of a better-balanced private life with work, or a combination of all the above-mentioned factors. In any case, employers are very concerned about this trend, because productivity at work is at an even greater cost in the time of economic turmoil ahead.

Law 27 of 2021 - The right of workers to be excluded from business activities in their private time
Last year, a law was passed in the province of Ontario that obliges employers with more than 25 employees to have a regulation
related to the right of workers to "exclude from business activities" during their free time. This definition includes all business
communication, including emails, phone calls, video calls, etc.
The right of workers to ignore business calls, texts, emails and more has been under consideration in Canada since 2018, all inspired
by a law passed in France in 2016 that gave workers the right to turn off their computers outside of regular work hours. It is possible
that working from home during the pandemic greatly accelerated the passage of this law.