Research into the future of working shows that the office 9-5 will become a thing of the past, as flexible hours and being based at home become more popular. The latest research by Office Angels into the changing face of global employment shows that 53% of people surveyed feel the 9-5 working week will be replaced by a week made up of flexible hours. Due to rapid improvements in virtual and remote-based technology, a third of employees think that commuting will decline, and 20% believe that face-to-face meetings will be replaced by teleconferencing and virtual meetings. End of the 9-5 office week The technology already in place, such as smartphones and tablet devices, mean workers can carry their work with them wherever they go, including at home. Answering urgent emails, text messages and phone calls at night and on weekends may become a necessity if the globalisation of markets increases and companies continue to acquire clients around the world. The 9-5 working week has become familiar in western societies, but flexible hours allow employees to mould their week around a personal or social calendar, such as appointments, holidays, hobbies or family commitments. Being based at home also has the advantage of saving workers money by eradicating the cost of travel, uniform/office attire and lunches. Levels of productivity will remain the same as mobile technology and devices allow workers to communicate with managers immediately and around the clock. Remote working benefits you Language Insight already matches the profile of the archetypal company in 2036, and by utilising freelance translators and transcribers, we embrace the growing trend towards employees being based at home and working flexible hours. Project co-ordinators based in-house communicate with our freelancers using email, Blackberry’s and our bespoke workflow system, and this means that we can offer a guarantee to our clients that their files will be returned to them efficiently and securely. In the modern age that we live in, progress towards 2036 is accelerating every day – by outsourcing work to us, our clients already have one foot in the future.
