Welcome to the Return to Work Guide by Wrike
When the first case of COVID-19 in the US was reported on January 21, 2020, the 157 million people who make up its workforce were unaware that their working lives were about to change forever. Practically overnight, an estimated 42% of employees became full-time remote workers, with many remaining so for the next 18 months. Many may never return to the office, as companies such as Twitter and Slack have since offered indefinite remote working. However, some companies did not favor this — Salesforce, Google, Goldman Sachs, and Amazon all hope to reopen their offices by the end of 2021.
While the decision may vary between companies, one development has been consistent — a return to work will require many organizations to offer flexible working and hybrid or work from home models. A recent Microsoft survey of 30,000 workers found that 70% expect flexible working, while 50% say that they would leave an employer if it was not offered. Accommodating this requires weeks of planning, reconfiguring your office space, and rethinking your working practices.
Fortunately, we at Wrike have firsthand experience of helping teams to work from anywhere in the world, at a time when they work best. We collaborate daily with nine offices in six countries, across seven different time zones, with many fully remote workers. We have also enabled 2.3 million people in over 140 countries to get set up with the right software so that they can do the same.
That’s why we have collected the most important research, best practices, and more in our return to work guide. Within this guide, we will break down the challenges, benefits, and trends of how companies are choosing to return to work around the world. Our easy-to-use return to work guide will explain how to support a hybrid workforce, create and implement guidelines, grow company culture, foster collaboration, and manage hiring in a world in which many of us will be separated from colleagues by both location and time.
Ready to get started? Jump in and start learning everything you need to know about the world’s return to work by clicking on the sections below.
