Work time, place and space in the ‘new normal’

Work time, space and place continues to evolve as technological development and broader societal change transform routines and locations of work. While it is gradual change that characterises trends in work time and location, sudden change can and does occur. The changes witnessed in 2020-21 in response to the global pandemic provide the most recent example of a sudden change that has had particular impacts on both location and routines of work, prompting a widespread move to remote working from home and accelerating the adoption of video conferencing and virtual collaborative working tools. While the response to the pandemic was, in principle, a short-term change driven by public health, it has prompted discussion around more permanent change in working routines where work is less location-dependent. This applies to many forms of office work, however, there are practical limits to the application of remote work in other jobs. It is likely that flexibility will be a continued feature of work in some occupations and sectors including greater application of remote working from home and hybrid work routines involving time spent at a co-located workplace i.e. employer premise, with time spent in other locations including the home. These modes of work provide a range of potential benefits, but critical to their success, is the effectiveness of their application.