Future of the workplace could mean more flexibility and work from home – KOLD

TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) -Going to some kind of office for Makko Deflippo is crucial for him to do work.

“Having an office here has been really, really nice, especially with two young kids at home,” said Makko Deflippo, rents office at The Post.

His work normally made him travel, but with COVID, he’s doing more Zoom and online meetings instead. He rents out a space at The Post, a communal workplace where workers can rent out meeting rooms, small or large offices—for hours, months or years at a time.

“There’s just two of us here, so we don’t need a huge space,” said Deflippo.

The Post just had their ribbon cutting, opening a business to bring people into the workplace, when many are out of it. However, Daniel Wesson, Founder and CEO of The Post, said these types of offices will likely gain popularity as many businesses move to a hybrid, or a spoke and wheel model. USA Today reports this month, more than 30 percent of adults are still working at home and about 20 percent go into an office sometimes.

“It’s kind of nice working from home for a while, but then at some point you get isolated,” said Wesson. “I think places like ours in the suburbs are going to fair better just because people are used to not driving long distances just to go to the office.”

Mural, a local company offering cloud IT solutions, is one of those companies heading to a hybrid model. They saw huge growth during the pandemic—basically doubling their staff, plus they are looking to hire another 50-100 people in the next year.

“We probably would have already been looking at an additional office or an addition to the building, this has actually lengthened that time,” said Don Yager, president and COO Mural.

Yager said they were able to save money on things like utilities, and then reinvest that into employee-wanted improvements to their office, like a game room, for those workers who do want to return at least a few days a week. But, with more out of the office, it means some miss out on company culture events, like pizza in the office.

“We can’t do that virtual, so we give them a 25 dollar door dash gift card,” said Yager.

It’s forced employers to work harder to maintain and grow culture, but the rise in remote has also lead to a bigger pool for the workforce. Everyone can now compete for jobs and workers across the nation.

“We are competing for talent now we never had to compete for before,” said Yager.

“I think companies are going to be forced to move to more remote or at least hybrid models,” said Deflippo.

While the future of the workplace will likely be different, but many seem to like the idea of flexibility. According to the US Census, many of the highest-earning households in the nation—73 percent—were working from home during the pandemic, that’s more than double the lowest-earners.

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