Future workplace will focus on skill sets, not where you're working from: Study

The workplace of the future is no longer going to be about where the employee is located, whether he or she is going to be working remotely or in-person at office or via a hybrid model. Going forward, work is not going to be where you are, but what you can do. Employers of the future will lay a stronger emphasis and value on skills rather than degrees.

In the new workplace, location and geography will not really matter. Capabilities and competencies are going to be the critical currencies companies rely on. This was one of the five key findings of the Infosys and WSJ Intelligence report titled “The New Workplace” released on December 14.

Purpose of the study

The study has been conducted by surveying more than 1,000 US senior executives at large companies (with over $500 million in revenue) to acquire insights into what is driving the workplace culture and workers after the major disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and what employers need to know in 2023.

After the pandemic, companies are navigating a workplace where workers have emerged with changing priorities, there is a constant tug-of-war over effectiveness of remote and hybrid work and companies are tussling with reconciling the workplace environment of three years ago with one that embraces a new future.

The study is also tapping into the impact of the post-pandemic economy on the labour market—and how both employees and employers feel about them. The report underlines the fact that employers are clearly at the crossroads as it has become imperative that they must rethink work norms and learn to adapt and derive value from the long-term impact of the pandemic.

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Remote vs in-person office workplace: ‘There’s no going back’

In that never-ending debate over whether which is more effective and productive, remote or in-person, interestingly, the ‘The New Workplace’ survey showed that though productivity and employee experience increased because of hybrid work, respondents were also in favour of the traditional office-based workplace as well.

They felt the office is also an effective environment to promote productivity, collaboration and work-life balance for knowledge workers. While 57 per cent of respondents agreed remote work boosts productivity, a solid 53 per cent also agreed productivity is a key benefit of working in-office.

However, here’s the nub: the study also found that certain industries experienced higher productivity from remote work than others. Of the industries that fared best with remote work, high-tech is at (63 per cent), telecom (54 per cent), and financial services (51 per cent) reported their industries will likely adopt a “work from anywhere” model going forward.

As Amy Loomis, research vice-president, Future of Work, at IDC said in the study, “There is a great deal of nostalgia and comfort in traditional 9-to-5 ways of looking at the world. But there’s no going back. Even if some organisations don’t necessarily think it’s the right way to go about doing work, they’re forced, because of the labor challenges, to work in this way to attract and keep talent.”

No one-size-fits-all

This mixed response from the respondents means that no one-size-fits-all. So, many businesses are torn between an acknowledgement that remote work offers certain benefits to both employees and the business, and a belief that in-person work is a better alternative.

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Across industries, nearly half (46 per cent) of leaders even agreed office visibility was still important as part of the performance evaluation process. Hence, in this kind of conflicted situation, the study advises that each company should make their own decision taking into account their strategic needs, industry, ideal culture (both present and future), hiring requirements and beyond.

However, there is still no consensus around the question of collaboration, and whether in-person or remote work facilitates greater opportunities for it.

Work-life balance is dependent on remote work

Considering that 53 per cent of respondents in the study felt creativity and innovation were best practised when they worked in-person in office, however, “that emphasis came at a cost”. It affected their personal lives and the study in fact showed that only 43 per cent of respondents said employees were able to achieve a good work-life balance prior to the pandemic.

The remote style of working has helped them maintain a work-life balance, with a significant 60 per cent indicating that work-life balance and employee satisfaction have improved as a result of remote work.

Employees value sustainability and purpose

Here’s another key finding in the study: Employees value companies that align business strategy with purpose. When it comes to business causes and profits, sustainability and purpose are on the top of mind for employees, with 75 per cent of respondents noting a purpose strategy is core to talent retention and recruitment.

Emphasis on skills rather than degrees

Most importantly, the study has found that employers are placing more importance on employee skills than on degrees. Even as companies are rethinking practices to
accommodate an evolving work environment, they are reimagining plans to hire, onboard, and upskill workers with a stronger emphasis on skills (64 per cent) vs. degrees (53 per cent).

Forty-six percent of respondents said their organisations have or will add roles focused on transitioning to a post-pandemic work environment. Majority said they are identifying new skills enabling remote work and are refocusing hiring practices with a stronger emphasis on skills over degrees.

The study recommended that companies therefore must make hybrid or remote work policies based on worker preference and performance abilities in order to survive. “This is especially true for employers in the tech, retail, telecom, manufacturing, and energy sectors,” they said. According to Tan Moorthy, EVP and head of delivery for the Americas, Infosys, the benefits of remote and in-office work vary by job and industry as per the report.

“One model isn’t better than the other, which means gone are the days where location matters. Employers will make the call on who comes into the office and who doesn’t based on what each worker can do. Skills and abilities — not degrees or showing up at an office — will drive post-pandemic workplace norms,” said Moorthy.