Impact of the pandemic on the work paradigm

We launched a challenge on Linkedin for users to share with us the extent to which they feel the pandemic has changed the work paradigm, in the medium and long term, in the companies where they work. As a result, we found that while around 13% say they don't anticipate any changes and expect to return to the style previously adopted, 87% think something will change.

10% will value the face-to-face system

10% of respondents indicate that they will value the face-to-face system, which gives us the idea that some companies may have had a bad experience with the remote modality. In fact, let's not forget that there are processes and tasks that require a great deal of preparation and software development in order to be done digitally, and there will certainly be workers and companies who are tired of this forced teleworking regime.

Teleworking in a pandemic is not a benchmark

In fact, when we talk about teleworking associated with a pandemic, we must not forget that we are not talking about teleworking in its correct association of the word, because it involves a very high emotional impact, associated with a lack of freedom and fear about the evolution of the health of your relationship circle. I'm sure we've all met colleagues who have seen their family life impacted by this lack of boundaries between personal and professional life.

Nor should we forget that many workers have been put to the test, in a way that is not at all consistent with the usual way of life that we have in Portugal, and have had to take on their professional, parental and educational roles, all on a full-time basis, which has led to a high level of fatigue and a significant reduction in productivity... In fact, who in their analysis of this teleworking would like to take it up again? And even if we know that teleworking in the future won't have these constraints, we may find it hard to let go of all the emotional burden associated with it...

21% will fully adopt teleworking

On the other hand, 21% say that they expect their companies to fully adopt teleworking, so they will certainly have found in this pandemic the impetus they were waiting for to move towards this type of work. We can venture a guess that they will be more digitally functional companies, where productivity may have increased, since much of the time spent commuting has probably become actual working time. In fact, the level of satisfaction of those who used to stand in traffic jams or on crowded public transport, and even started to be able to wear more relaxed clothes, will certainly have increased and we know that this also has a positive impact on productivity...

Nonetheless, we would say that it is urgent to ask how exclusively digital communication and interaction works? How can cultural alignment and commitment always be maintained at a distance? This will be an added concern and effort for these companies...

56% bet on the best of both worlds

Finally, the majority (56%) are talking about the possibility of adopting a mixed regime, with some days of remote work and other days of face-to-face work, which shows us that it is indisputable that this condition imposed on us has made us take the leap, made us question our more rigid models and made us put into perspective the added value of both ways of working.

In fact, a great quality of human beings is their ability to take advantage of changes and challenges to improve and grow, and companies where this makes sense will be able to reconcile the advantages of teleworking (more comfortable workers, greater flexibility, greater ability to focus on more concentrated tasks...) with the great need of human beings to contact, socialize, receive feedback in close physical proximity and without barriers, and to feel part of a physical space that reflects the company's culture and values.

Today's truth is not tomorrow's truth

However, we believe that we still have a long way to go in terms of challenges and limitations, and perhaps in a few months' time we will be discovering new conclusions and new needs, just as we did a year ago, without being able to predict at the time that we would be here today, looking at these conclusions.... One thing we can be sure of, however, is that we will look at the reality of the world of work differently, and each company will have the challenge of rediscovering its ideal, unique and irreplicable way of operating.