FUTURE OF WORK WHITE PAPER

Global impacts shaping the way we design workplaces

Preparing to Return to the Workplace

Relaxing social distancing and bringing the economy out of hibernation will challenge organisations to ramp up productivity whilst adhering to the Safe Work guidelines. This economic re-opening needs to be done without comprising employee health and safety. Wellbeing is paramount.

In Sydney alone, this impacts the lives of 500,000 office workers so it really is a big deal.

We all need to feel safe at work. Everyone needs to be confident that their employers have done everything possible to create a safe work environment.

For business this is a critically important factor when talking about productivity. People who fear for their personal safety are distracted which will undoubtably impact their ability to do their best work. Designing for the wellbeing of workers has never been more important.

As workplace design specialists, our role is to help model the physical solutions to create a workplace that truly supports wellbeing.

Modern workplace design pre-COVID was focused on fuelling creativity, connection, innovation and collaboration. As designers we achieved this by creating as many 'bump' opportunities as possible to enable people to share and cross-pollinate ideas. The challenge for us now is how to continue enabling people to connect and share with each other whilst mitigating the spread of disease. Vaccine or no vaccine, a workplace that functions at optimal levels while COVID-19 is still transmittable is the scenario we need to contend with.

Our task therefore is to create a new version of where we do our best work. One that works right now with some quick fixes but is adaptable enough to serve a number of future outcomes along with the needs of workers and businesses as we navigate towards a new and somewhat unknown version of the future.