Another important consideration about the workplace is its effect on relationships. People form long lasting professional, private & even romantic relationships in the workplace. These serve people right through life as a facet of their identity – I’m a doctor, a lawyer, a medical health professional. There are conversations that we take into our private lives, our personal lives, and they give us a sense of connection – people want to be part of that. Where people work & the resulting relationships are very much part of people’s identity.
One of the interesting things that is resulting from the current time is that people are being forced into lockdown, and it is putting some relationships under threat, for example close family relationships. I’m sure going forward we will see negative consequences of that. Going to the physical workplace is a large part of a strong relationships, then coming home together to share their stories, experiences & challenges.