LONDON: The economist John Maynard Keynes predicted in 1930 that the amount we work would gradually shrink to as little as 15 hours a week as technology made us more productive.
Not only did this not happen, but we also began to spend extra time away from home due to commuting and suburban living patterns, which we often forget are recent historical inventions.
However, 2020 has changed all that. In my new history of remote work during COVID-19, I marvel at how much it has shaken up our lives and how much we took for granted.
My research also points to a number of trends that will help shape working life in 2021.
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OVER ‘IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS’
At the start of 2020 remote work was a gradually rising long-term trend. Only 12 per cent of workers in the US worked remotely full time, 6 per cent in the UK. Naturally the world was unprepared for mass remote work.
But COVID-19 instantly proved remote work was possible for many people. Workplace institutions and norms toppled like dominos.
The office, in-person meetings and the daily commute fell first. Then the nine-to-five schedule, vacations and private home lives were threatened. Countries even started issuing remote work visas to encourage people to spend lockdown working in their territory.
As old norms vanished, a rapid procession of novel technologies marched uninvited into our homes. We had to master Zoom meeting etiquette, compassionate email practices, navigate surveillance, juggle caring responsibilities. The list goes on.
In the face of grim statistics – the UN predicted 195 million job losses – only the tone deaf complained about working from home.
Nonetheless, COVID-19 created the biggest remote work experiment in human history.
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In July, UK prime minister Boris Johnson – with Edwardian optimism – daydreamed a sense of normality would return “in time for Christmas”.
Fast forward through summer to lockdown 2.0 and the fantasy of a 12-week experiment faded into sepia tinged memories.
One interviewee joked: “I really thought we’d be back in the office by July, what fools we were!”
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ARE YOU DISCIPLINED?
Silicon Valley companies Google, Apple and Twitter were among the first to announce employees could work from home. Ahead of the curve, they were well practised.
Predictably, they already had a fancy term for it: Distributed working. In 2021 concepts such as…
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