That Covid-19 has had a profound impact on society is unmistakable, and it’s perhaps still unclear quite what of the changes we’ve seen over the past year or so will endure once the pandemic eases. Nonetheless, a recent report from the Silicon Valley Bank attempts to examine what the post-Covid working world might look like.
“While COVID-19 brought many challenges, it also presented the opportunity to re-examine the way business is conducted,” the authors say. “Companies are listening intently to employees’ evolving needs and are making sweeping changes to what, where, and how work in the future will be done.”
The future is remote
The authors argue that the remote work that has been mostly successful during the pandemic will continue afterwards, especially as they believe activities such as collaboration and coaching of employees has actually improved during the remote working phase.
As a result, this has meant that some areas have seen some of their shine fade as workers seek lower-cost alternatives to operate from.
“Even with innovation hubs, people are moving to the suburbs, as telecommuting becomes permanent for many and the cost of living starts to outweigh an infrequent commute (if a commute at all),” the authors say. “With talent moving en masse, companies may need to consider updating their hiring practices to capture this dispersion.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the sectors that have supported this new wave of remote work have also seen an influx of both capital and M&A activity, with areas such as collaboration and productivity software and Ed Tech proving particularly active.
Virtual working
This is also reflected in the attitude of companies towards physical office space. The report highlights that many companies have paused any decisions to renew their leases on office space due to the uncertainty over real estate requirements in the medium-term.
This was especially prominent among smaller and less mature companies, with larger firms tending to maintain their portfolio at pre-Covid levels for the time being.
Perhaps unsurprisingly this has also coincided with a significant rise in cloud adoption as companies have bolstered up the digital tools available to support their newly remote workforce. This has resulted in a 31% growth in Amazon Web Services and 12% in Google Cloud during the 4th quarter of 2020.
“This trend is likely to continue, as investment in collaboration and remote-work infrastructure remains top of mind for businesses,” the authors say. “Providing employees with safe, accessible ways to work from anywhere has allowed many companies to remain productive.”
While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to the future of work, the authors nonetheless believe that a number of key characteristics will define the years ahead. For instance, it will be crucial that there is parity between office and remote employees, while communication and transparency will be more important than ever. With a hybrid workforce quite likely, it’s also important that companies are deliberate and consistent with their attempts to forge a positive company culture, as this is likely to play a crucial role in the fortunes of the business in what will remain a challenging time.
