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Last week, Boris unveiled his ‘roadmap’ strategy out of lockdown restrictions, and although it depends on many factors being met, we can tentatively start to look ahead with optimism and hope.

I think it’s realistic to assume that working life will not return to the pre-Covid norms, and businesses will need to adapt to a more hybrid working model.

‘This crisis has underscored the important role business plays in keeping the fabric of society in repair. And the challenge for CEOs has never been clearer: although societal needs differ according to geography, sector, skill set, risk appetite and ability to work remotely, the world of work needs to work better for everybody.’ PWC.com

Working from home has its many benefits – flexibility, cost saving, childcare etc, and although most of us will be desperate to get back to the office with our colleagues, we’ve got used to the remote way of life! Research shows that going forward, employees will want a balanced way of working with the best of both worlds, which entrepeneur.com calls the WFH revolution.

There are also many positives for employers that adapt a hybrid strategy, as remote workers can have increased productivity, cost-saving and can reduce employee turnover. You can read more about this in depth in our previous blog about the benefits of having remote workers.

It seems many companies are already moving towards a hybrid workforce, Google, Facebook and Twitter have implemented permanent, extended or indefinite work from home (WFH) policies. 

‘A recent McKinsey survey of 800 corporate executives around the world. Across all sectors, 38 percent of respondents expect their remote employees to work two or more days a week away from the office after the pandemic, compared to 22 percent of respondents surveyed before the pandemic. But just 19 percent of respondents to the most recent survey said they expected employees to work three or more days remotely. This suggests that executives anticipate operating their businesses with a hybrid model of some sort, with employees working remotely and from an office during the work week.' McKinsey.com

One of the positives of the pandemic for Forward Role, is that we found that we were not directly affected by full remote working, our technology integrations and continued focus on communication has meant there has been little impact on the business itself.

Managing Director Brian Johnson said: ‘Our previous acceptance of flexible working meant that there was little adaptation needed when lockdown started and the team continued to deliver excellent results for our clients.

I’ve been so impressed with how the Forward Role team has managed to stay engaged with each other and it’s been fantastic to have so many people share so many different, creative ways to keep morale high across the business whilst fully remote.

I’m delighted that the business continues to grow, with 7 new hires within the last 4 months and our values, culture and team spirit being the deciding factor for them.'

It’s likely the Forward Rollers will eventually return to the office to collaborate and socialise with colleagues, but we are a stronger team for working apart and with our hybrid model will be stronger still.

Whatever the future of the workforce may be, we can be certain that some sectors will be see more structural change than others and overall working life will never be the same as the pre-pandemic world… the hybrid model is here to stay and I think that’s a good thing.

If you would like to chat about how you can adapt your own working practices, if you require recruitment support for your business or you are looking for a role that offers more flexibility - get in touch!