After two years of lockdown and operating in conjunction with COVID guidelines, we saw a more concerted effort among companies returning to in-person work. We saw Big Tech executing on their promises to return to offices, many incentivizing employees back in with perks such as catered lunches and espresso bars.
During that same timeframe, I joined a fintech company as its new Chief People Officer. On my first day, I was tasked with leading our shift to hybrid work, one of the biggest workplace experiments to date. Among the first things I did was check just how many employees had experienced office life at the company before the pandemic, and quickly learned that I was among the 72% of employees who had joined our company after March 2020. Three-quarters of our employees aren’t returning anywhere, I realized. We’re all starting a new type of work.
