Learning From What People Have Been Through
The extended duration and reach of the global pandemic have changed fundamental patterns in our lives, accelerating existing trends and revealing new unmet needs.
How we shop, entertain, travel, and learn are different, and the same is true for the way people work. As the pandemic began, people who could work from home suddenly found themselves in the middle of a massive global experiment, uncovering new insights about what people need — and will expect — to do their best work. Whether they are still at home or have returned to the office, people have learned from what they’ve been through and are looking to their organisations to create a substantially better work experience than what they had before the pandemic.
Working from home during the pandemic enabled many organisations to sustain business operations — some prospering and others struggling — which led to early speculation that it might become the new default position and that office real estate would be significantly reduced, or even eliminated.
About the Study
Steelcase Global Reports study work, workers, and the workplace. They explore important issues facing leading organisations today to uncover key insights that can help improve the work experience.
Since the onset of the pandemic, Steelcase has conducted ongoing research to help organisations understand its impact on their people and business. A science-based and data-driven approach uncovers new perspectives about how and where people want to work going forward.
This issue shares the synthesis of eight primary studies conducted between April and September 2020 and was designed to measure how the COVID-19 pandemic will change the future of work. The quantitative and qualitative studies deployed methodologies based in the social sciences and were conducted in multiple countries, including over 32,000 cumulative participants.
Steelcase is committed to continuing research to understand what’s next and share what we’re learning to help make work better.
In This Report:
- Introduction
Learning from What People Have Been Through - Working from Home Around the World
The Key Benefits and Challenges of Working From Home - The First Wave of Workplace Change
How leading organizations plan for a more flexible approach to work - Changing Employee Expectations
Explore five things employees need now - Four Macro Shifts
Space considerations organizations need to address moving forward