“We will never go back to a life we had before the pandemic. The workplace will never be the same as before COVID-19.”
President of Henkel Russia and General Manager of Beauty Care Russia and the CIS Sergei Bykovsky made this statement about the post-COVID workplace for white-collar staff at a news conference on March 31.
According to Bykovsky, Russia seems to have no need of reinstating a full-fledged office employment. The ideal format would be some form of hybrid between online and offline work. The possibility of working remotely literally gives people space, and improves their quality of life.
Offices are going to be different in the future; instead of rows of workplaces, they will rather provide a space where people will meet to work as a team. The available workplaces will not be assigned to specific employees, and there will be fewer of them than the number of workers — down by a certain coefficient.
About 30% of the staff of the Russian branch of Henkel are working at the office today, and according to Sergei Bykovsky, their share may soon increase to 50%. As for longer prospects, this remains to be seen, Bykovsky added.