All News In March 2020, the spread of COVID-19 not only in Portugal but worldwide created profound changes in our lives. If in the past the requirement to be physically in an office was natural, the pandemic has accelerated a transformation in the lives of workers. Thus, the concepts of remote work, home office, or virtual meetings came to occupy their lives.
The best answer seems to be the hybrid model, in which workers divide part of their working hours between the traditional office and their homes. This is the ideal solution for most companies after Covid-19, not only because of the need for social interaction between employees but also because of the ease of solving doubts, questions, or problems in a more direct way.
In this case, this solution is not only advocated by companies, but also by people who, after several consecutive months in the “home office”, feel the need to return to be with colleagues in order to promote their own mental health and socio-emotional balance.
Thus, it is essential to redefine the concept of offices, and this place should now be considered considering broader, open, and dynamic spaces with the aim of promoting motivation, concentration, interaction, and the well-being of employees.
There are several examples of companies that have already adopted more modern, differentiating and capable of providing a sense of well-being to employees. This trend is also reinforced by Covid-19 and the entry of Generation Z into the labor market.
[capture: Cayce Clifford/The New York Times]
In this segment, the offices have adapted to a new reality, some of which have implemented small meeting rooms in “capsules” and free tables in different areas so that any employee can change their working environment in seconds.
The traditional office is thus being overtaken by a new concept where social distance, video calls, and open space environments come together.
Artificial intelligence and automation also registered an investment by companies. The existence of limitations in contacts between people has led to the growth of the robotics industry in various parts of the world, such as in China.
Many companies have implemented automation and Artificial Intelligence in warehouses, supermarkets, call centers, and factories to reduce the density of labor in the workplace and respond to peak demand. In this sense, there was a correlation between two points: the greater the human interaction in the workplace, the higher the adoption of automation processes.
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