In our travels around the capital when visiting professional body offices and HQ's we are frequently met with large open plan spaces with nobody in them. Being naturally nosey we always ask 'where is everyone' and of course the answer is a predictable 'working from home'.
The professional body sector has been transformed by a working from home ethos to the point where many are now looking to surrender leases and to sell their real estate holding. Many now operate a core days philosophy and work a hybrid workplace/home system. This still means there is no longer a need to accommodate all staff, all at once.
It is perhaps a surprise that it took covid and a year or two of lockdown to bring this idea firmly into the light, but it is here, and it is likely to stay.
Of course, there are some who would wish to turn the clock back often they manage a considerable property portfolio. And there are many arguments about the importance of social interaction and the importance of the 'water cooler conversations' but we are unlikely, in our sector at least, to see a mass return to the workplace. The benefits of flexible working arrangements are too numerous to discount and for our sector at least we should now be looking at how to maximise this new facet of or work arrangements.