Are Offices Less Necessary Now? Pros and Cons From a Business Perspective

If you’re someone who has been a frequent reader of my blogs, you’ve probably seen my writing on the effects of COVID-19 on the way that business is conducted. Now that people are looking to predict what a post-coronavirus world looks like, there’s been a discussion on how necessary offices are to operate a successful business. There have been a wide variety of pros and cons presented regarding the utility of offices, and in today’s blog, I’ll be considering these pros and cons to find out for myself how I feel about the future of office-based work.

Pros and Cons of Working From Home

Working from home when possible has become necessary for any business concerned with the health and safety of its employees, and it’s fascinating to see how telecommuting has worked out for different companies. Quoted in a Wall Street Journal article, Chief Executive of Morgan Stanley James Gorman described shifting 90% of employees to remote work as a “test” that he would be unwilling to take during normal circumstances, due to the perceived risk. Thankfully for business owners around the world, the shift to remote work has had little impact on productivity, which is one of the more convincing reasons that offices may be less necessary than previously thought. Saving money on real estate leases by downsizing physical offices or not leasing an office altogether is a persuasive argument for many business owners, who could use those funds to invest in employee pay or in expanding their business.

Despite the overall success that remote work has had for many companies, some predict that post-coronavirus, office work will return to being the norm. Proponents of returning to office work say that one of the cons of remote work is that it makes collaboration more difficult for jobs that require creative problem solving, like engineering. Working from home brings another host of issues when you consider that people now have to fit their working space into their living area, which may not have much room. Working in an enclosed space with family, pets, and household chores bring the possibility of distraction by other life responsibilities, let alone distractions like television.However, workers whose home has become the office may feel more inclined to over-work and lose sight of the distinction between work and home life.

Has your workplace shifted to a remote work structure? Check out the other articles on my blog, and let me know your thoughts on the situation in the comments below.