2022 trends - this is how your office workflow and job will be

Digital work from home and outside the office or hybrid work solutions is the new standard for most companies - work in the company's physical office environment alone will be one of the exceptions.

Instead, the office will develop as a social place, a hub where you meet for presentations, development of ideas, the introduction of new projects, team building and events where the company and employees need to communicate face-to-face.

The fewer employees physically present in the office will reduce companies' need for office square meters and will in the future lead to reduced office spaces and smaller leases.

In a recent survey, the world's largest business broker CBRE estimates that 63% of large companies have already rebuilt or adapted their offices to the new workflows. 80% are in the process of or considering increasing the number of activity-based workstations, and 80% are upgrading their collaboration space.

Choice and control

"This year, to a large extent, the pandemic will still be present for many of us. However, we must reasonably say that we have learned to adapt to new behavioural patterns and expectations as we carry out our work.

The change in 2022 is office workers will widely have the freedom of choice rather than being forced to adapt to the model that their company has chosen out of necessity for the recent two years," the English futurist Bernard Marr says.

63% of large companies have remodelled or are adapting their offices to the new workflows, +80% are increasing or considering increasing the number of activity- based workstations, while 80% are upgrading their collaboration zones.                                                                                                                         Photos: iStock

With employees' freedom to choose their workstation, the need for employers to control the behaviour and efficiency of hybrid workers through technology and digital platforms such as Aware, Slack, Business Microscope and others is also increasing.

“For better or worse, it looks like that kind of technology will play an increasingly important role in the office workplace by 2022. Another emerging trend is that employers begin to understand the importance of employee health and well-being, including mental health, in their staffing strategies.

In 2022, one of their biggest challenges will be to continue these efforts without becoming too intrusive into the individual employee's privacy and personal sphere," Bernard Marr predicts.

AI boom

The global AI market expects to see a veritable boom in 2022 in artificial intelligence-driven software, knowledge management, virtual assistants, autonomous vehicles, digital workplaces and crowdsourced data.

According to the World Economic Forum, artificial intelligence and automation expect to create 97 million new jobs by 2025. But already, employees will experience how their tasks and roles optimize with AI technology.

Corporate used artificial intelligence-driven software expects a veritable boom and breakthrough in 2022. AI and automation predict to create 97 million new jobs in the period up to 2025.

In the sequel, artificial intelligence will still primarily serve to automate routine processes so that employees can instead concentrate on higher-value work that requires creativity, imagination, strategy, or emotional intelligence.

It could be lawyers who will use time-saving technology to search history and precedent in previous lawsuits or marketers who, through an ever-growing range of software, can support them target campaigns or segment audiences.  

Mental health

During nearly two years of covid remote working, the mental well-being and health of homeworking employees suffered severe casualties, researches show. And this is despite companies' numerous success stories of increased work discipline and efficiency.

As new workflows in 2022 will begin to work, the workplaces will need to focus more sharply on their mental health and define how they can best deal with employees' increased problems with their remote work well-being. 

In 2022, companies will need to focus more sharply on the mental health of hybrid workers and define how they can best deal with the increased well-being problems of homeworking.

"Workday's physical cues, facial expressions and small talk are lost in the hybrid work environment. And therefore, employers and managers should understand the importance of finding alternative ways to connect their teams," founder of the Volley video message app, Josh Little, says.

"Beyond the pandemic, it is more important than ever to create corporate cultures where vulnerability is accepted and where it is also perfectly okay for remote workers to talk about their emotions and personal stressors."  ●

Read more:
BBC.com: Is finding a new normal in the workplace impossible
Fastcompany.com: This is what the office will look like in 2022
Forbes.com: 16 key trends that will drive small business in 2022
Forbes.com: Future of work - the 5 biggest workplace trends in 2022