Extract from Bella Schiro and Misun Yoon’s article “Law Office of the Future — Reimagined”
There are many opinions about what the workplace of the future will look like post COVID-19. Corporate America has long had mandates and best practice policies around remote working, improved office efficiency, sustainability and wellness. Over the past five years, law firms have gradually been adopting these same best practices for their organizations. With the coronavirus pandemic, there is focused attention and a sense of urgency regarding the employee health and wellbeing side of workplace best practices, while also a grave concern about the economic impact of implementation of these practices to the firm’s occupancy cost and bottom line.
Many in the legal economy may be asking themselves whether they need office space at all now that everyone has been forcibly migrated to cyberspace. But having experienced work from home (WFH) for several months, there is a newfound appreciation for the office workplace. In fact, after just a few weeks of working from home, a CNBC poll of viewers on April 24, 2020 asking if workers expect to go back to the office found that 55% of people currently WFH expect to return to the office, 20% are not sure if they will be returning, and 24% (up from 9% previously) expect to work entirely/more from home.
