Future of Work From Home

Work From Home During Pandemic

Work life balance is a myth, no debates on that one there. Work life integration, a reality, was always the norm in the corporate world as well as the start-up world prior to the pandemic. During the pandemic schools have been closed too, which means work from home becomes a whole new feat — work from home V2.0. Post pandemic schools are highly likely to continue online classes which would then mean both parents and their kids will continue to spend most of their time at home. And this gives rise to a lot of interesting issues for us as a community.

1. Insecure Adults of the Future: See in the picture above, do you see how kids are being adversely impacted by the lack of attention their parents can give them? It’s not that parents do not want to be fully present with their kids, it’s more that they cannot cause this version of work from home is beyond work life integration. And such children are highly likely to grow up with insecurities, inability to bond with others and abandonment issues of all kinds.
2. Lack of Personal Space: Home was, prior to the pandemic, a place where family could bond and grow together. That personal space has forever more been intruded. Children find themselves competing with their parent’s work constantly, where once they felt the center of the universe at home. You and I as part of the top 1% of our world can afford separate rooms for each child and a study to work from home, this is not the case for close to 80% of the world’s population. Children cannot play, make noise and just be kids cause a parent is on a zoom call or a sibling is in an online session. It’s almost as though someone has stolen childhood, globally. Personally, I currently do not have a family and in the near future would absolutely want to settle down with an awesome man, when he shows up in my life and have kids. I do not want my family to feel they need to compete with my work for my attention. It’s family first only then can I give my 200% to my companies and teams.
3. Mental Health: The constant juggling between work and family as one tries to cope with this new version of work from home most must find draining causing mental exhaustion. Add to it the lack for social interactions caused by social distancing, certainly affect adversely human mental wellness. Humans need warmth, affection, social interaction, hugs, to strengthen our immune system and balance our body. It’s as important as oxygen for our body. In fact, even before the pandemic, there was a shortage of mental health providers to meet the demand and that is only going to increase and cause further strain on an already broken system.

All 3 issues discussed above impact productivity which will translate into costs to companies in the foreseeable future. There is an easy solution though to it all. It is this:

“As business leaders we need to give our employees the flexibility to come into office spaces which are safe to work from for social distancing stand point, if they need to. I don’t see offices being replaced permanently unless the entire world’s population steps into the top 1% space. The crime of stolen childhoods will weigh heavy on us all in 2 to 3 decades from now if we fail as leaders to create safe working spaces for our employees.” ~~ Afrros Hudli, Jan 2021

Author: Afrros Hudli

Bio: Artificial Intelligence, Board Director, Innovation Catalyst, Entrepreneur — https://www.afrrozhudli.com/about

Social Links: https://about.me/afrrosmhudli