Work in progress: From cubicle rats to gig workers

When smartphones started ruling the world, many predicted the death of offices. Futurists forecast that with the virtual office in your pocket, physical offices would shrink and eventually vanish.

The contrary has happened. The office, if anything, is getting larger. Look at how Amazon has amassed 1 million square feet of office space in Bellevue, Washington. However, the look, feel, culture, the type of work we do in these spaces have radically changed from 25 years ago. No longer is a desk, a phone and a computer enough to get work done, it seems.

What’s a workplace today if it doesn’t have recreation zones, gyms, food courts, silent zones, collaborative zones, bean bags and funky designs? Silicon Valley’s zany offices have sparked a revolution in workplace design embraced by old economy players, too.

But hang on; as we enter the age of gig workers, people are again predicting the death of offices. Instead, the trend reports say we will see the rise of co-working spaces that will swallow up most of the office real estate in the world.

The last 25 years have seen massive transformations in the workplace. If you started working in the early ’90s, you would have seen a sweeping set of changes in how, where and why you work. What led to these changes?

Tech transforms

Harish Bhat, Brand Custodian at Tata Sons, and former MD of Tata Global Beverages, says the big workplace shifts he has seen over the last 25 years are: the move from closed offices to open and more flexible spaces, a younger and more diverse workforce, the vanishing of the concept of lifetime employment, and better-dressed employees. Also, the levels of stress have shot up, he says.

D Prasanth Nair, Managing Partner and Country Head, Inhelm Leadership Solutions, says that over the years, the balance of power has shifted from employers to employees. Organisations have stopped their top-down hierarchical approach; policies have changed from those with industrial contexts (suited for factory settings) to those that are service oriented and people friendly.

The triggers of change have been many. The move from closed cabins to open spaces was shaped by the new organisation theory that promoted an egalitarian culture with more communication and less hierarchy. Breaking down doors and cabins promoted a lean, flat culture. But disruption caused by technology and internet have been the two biggest triggers. It has led to the ‘always-on’, 24/7 work environment, even as it has enabled massive collaboration through tools such as Google Docs, and facilitated remote and gig working.

Other stimuli include the entry of a young workforce and more women. The millennial generation now form 65 per cent of the workplace, according to some estimates, bringing with them new attitudes to work and leading to re-framing of workplace culture. Women still constitute only 38 per cent of the workforce; but with their growing presence, offices have had to modify behaviours. The very nature of work, too, has transformed. Work is now no longer a task to be done, but an experience, a full-scale engagement, and one that has to have some meaning and purpose.

Agile and flexible

The new buzzwords at offices of today are agility, flexibility and collaboration. Eighty per cent of Indian companies already allow some form of flexibility, according to a study by serviced-office company IWG.

The other buzzword is sustainable spaces. Green is in. Companies are really pushing the envelope in building green, climate-friendly workplaces that cut their carbon footprint. Companies such as Infosys have built campuses where energy consumption is minimised, where apps monitor people movements and take smart decisions on lighting and air-conditioning. The movement towards co-working, too, ticks the green box as employees can choose a place of work close to their homes and cut down on commute. According to JLL, by 2020, some 13.5 million Indians will operate out of co-working facilities.

Interestingly, co-working spaces themselves have been seeing constant re-invention. Harsh Lambah, Country Manager, International Workplace Group (IWG) (formerly Regus), points out how from quaint business centres in the early 1990s that catered to the business traveller, the service office has today morphed into co-working hubs.

“In the next 7-8 years, the formats will further change and adapt to newer requirements,” says Lambah.

One trend that will continue, though, is the collision between work and leisure. In fact, the two contrary trends — giant funky office spaces with recreation zones built into them, and the virtual pocket office that is your mobile phone — both stem from the same philosophy — that you can no longer separate your work from your personal life. Work and life are all the same.