Columnists
Home at work: The next big thing
All the talk during this pandemic has been about working from home. It’s here to stay, so they say.
Hold on a minute. There is an alternative arrangement that trend spotters say could outstrip the work from home movement once the COVID-19 workplace restrictions have been lifted. Call it the “home at work” movement.
Toronto futurist Krystle Bahl explains it this way. “How many Zoom calls have I had to join where people are wearing pyjamas, eating their breakfast and looking like they’ve just woken up with a bad case of bed hair. And it’s three in the afternoon. The television’s on in the background and half their mind is tuned into some text message on their smartphone.
“There’s no doubt about it. Working from home results in sloppy thinking, which produces mediocre work. Better to encourage people to be productive in a professional environment.
“And that got me to thinking. People pay two thousand bucks a month for a tiny onebedroom apartment on the 24th floor of a high-rise building, overlooking the 24th floor of another high-rise. And they call that home.”
So why not, she said to herself, why not offer workers the chance to get rid of their home environment completely and live instead in the place they work. That would eliminate the need for that 24th floor box. Instead, you charge them 30 per cent of their income, and provide them with a place to sleep, shower, shave and eat three square vegan meals a day.
So she has a home at work plan to put in place in her own company, FlashForward Inc., the minute she is permitted to do so. And she has every confidence she will get more productive employees once it gets going.
“All we will ask of our employees is that they be available for work 18 hours a day, 12 hours a day on weekends, and that they be on call on statutory holidays. We don’t want to demand too much of people. Instead, we want to make living at work attractive. That’s why we will have a library, a sauna, maid service and an exercise room. It’s a step or two above your average college dormitory. In a way, it’s more like your old-style lumber camp—with avocado smoothies instead of pork and beans.
“We will even offer a personal companion service, so that people won’t have to spend their precious free time looking for friends or spouses. On top of that, we will offer recreational services, such as a community choir that allows residents the fulfillment of singing songs together that express appreciation to the company and their faith in its mission.
“Our expectation is that people won’t miss having a personal home at all—and with our 30 per cent cap, they’ll end up with more money in their pockets. Not that they will have any time to spend it!” she exclaims with a mischievous grin.
Bahl notes the small environmental footprint that the home at work movement leaves. Just keeping one centre of personal operations going and doing away with commuting will cut energy consumption considerably. In addition, it will free up more residential spaces, thereby increasing supply and making housing more affordable.
Bahl acknowledges that there may be zoning issues to contend with before home from working can really take off, but she believes that regulations will eventually follow social trends. “Just think how exciting it will be for people to live and work on the 48th floor of an office tower, and to look across the street and wave to the people who live on the 48th floor of that office building. You can’t stop that with regulations.”
She concedes there are some potentially troublesome issues to address. What special quarters are going to be designed for families? Does the employer have an obligation to ship an aging employee off to a retirement home? And can an employee who is fired simply be turfed out on to the street?
But Bahl sees these as obstacles that can be overcome. “All it takes to become a believer in home at work” she says with the air of someone with experience, “is one more person in a Zoom call munching corn flakes and you’ll be an instant convert to the home at work movement.” Whether you live on the 24th floor or not.
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