Work from home is here to stay, future of realty is all about flexible hybridisation: Ciril

The Covid-19 pandemic when began in 2020, changed the way the world operated. And one such was the way we work! With lockdown and restrictions that made streets empty and halted businesses across the globe, the outbreak also opened the floodgate for the hybridisation of the workplace. The traditional and so-called 9 to 6 jobs practice was changed into remote work models. Companies were adopting work from home (WFH). Now that the pandemic has slowed down and businesses are getting back on their track, it is being known that WFH will continue to stay.

Real Estate consultants servicing on a Pan-India basis, Ciril in its latest research note said, the pandemic has brought in many changes in our world. One of the areas which experienced a massive shift in how we work. From holding mundane 9 to 6 jobs, we rapidly adopted a remote work model in the pandemic world. It forced most of us to go through a period of uncertainty regarding sustainability of remote working to finally realising that it is a viable option and emerged the concept of Hybridisation of workplace.

Notably, the hybrid work culture is a location-flexible arrangement enabling employees to combine onsite and offsite work as they and their employers see fit. With the lifting of pandemic lockdowns worldwide, a wide range of hybrid arrangements have emerged that are granting employees flexibility that was seldom offered before.

"The pandemic served to dispel some myths around reduced productivity and/or quality of work when done from home," CIRIL's note said.

It cited a study by Boston Consulting Group of over 12,000 employees that revealed, many employees feel their productivity has stayed the same or even increased since they’ve been able to work from home. Teams reported similar or even better results than pre-pandemic years and many people adapted positively to working from home. Large corporates such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Twitter have announced Work From Home (WFH) options for employees.

According to CIRIL, even though WFH is increasingly becoming an acceptable mode of working, the downside of this are lack of organisation culture, team building activities, collaboration, interactions and motivation leading to employee burnout, loneliness and mental health issues. This has led to exploring new models for hybrid and collaborative working environment that strikes the right balance between working place and time as well as fosters healthy interpersonal relationships between employee and employers.

Following the WFH popularity, there is a new work pattern that is being explored now. It is called 'Work Near Home'.

"As we all reimagine the future of work, the paradigms of remote and hybrid work for employees and employers are being explored – Work Near Home is turning into reality," CIRIL's note added.

Traditionally, IT & ITeS sectors have emerged as the first movers in experimenting with hybrid models a decade back and since then have created a robust policy framework to support workforce. Meanwhile, other sectors are slowly adopting to the newer working hybrid models as a post pandemic strategy.

In CIRIl's note, for most organizations, hybrid work will be the way forward as it drives many direct and indirect benefits, from employee experience and to business needs. The models are evolving and there is no best fit as it is based on their capabilities, key verticals and needs. Figuring out how to do this is far from straightforward. For most players, it involves two axes: place and time. A balanced approach becomes vital to ensure optimal output and efficiency.

Further, CIRIL said that Indian companies are still in evolving stage of adopting hybrid model as a way of working at government policy level. One of the key enablers of hybrid model is communication infrastructure grounded to technology. It needs impetus by the government in terms of conducive policy enablers to upgrade infrastructure to create a sustainable eco-system for workforce in the country. However, many companies have firmly set their sights on flexible working arrangements that can significantly boost productivity and employee satisfaction.

"Since WFH has become a reality and is here to stay, there is an increased demand for functional, flexible spaces that accommodate workspace conveniently located at urban centre for easy access of employees working remotely," CIRIL added.

On the work near home model, CIRIL's note said that the Hybrid work option has the potential to create appropriate demand for commercial office space in smaller cities in the future. With offices shifting to more affordable and remote locations, residential real estate is set to get a facelift in the coming years.

CIRIL's note also concluded that developers, as well as corporates, have to work in tandem to address the needs of hybrid work culture through augmentation of existing infrastructure. Smaller cities are becoming an attractive investment option for both customers and investors. There is a huge potential in infrastructure development and the real estate sector, particularly in Tier II and Tier III cities.

"Future of Realty is all about flexible hybridisation," CIRIL finally noted.