Beyond quiet quitting: Poly predicts 2023’s work trends

The world of work has changed dramatically over the past few years – and 2022 has been no exception. There is much uncertainty about the future of work, policies and expectations. Some employers have been asking staff to return to the office five days a week, while others are trialling four-day working weeks. At the same time, employees are fighting for more flexibility, as shown by the rise in workcations and digital nomad visas.

Here are Poly’s top workplace collaboration trends for 2023.

Hybrid work will be normalised, with more people doing a four-day week 
In 2023, ‘hybrid work’ will just become ‘work’. It will no longer be a trend, but normal everyday working life. As a result of this shift and a relaxation in attitudes around work, we could see a rise in the number of people wanting to work a four-day week.

In 2022, more than 3,300 workers at 70 UK companies – ranging from a local chippy to large financial firms – started working a four-day week with no loss of pay, in the world’s biggest trial of the new working pattern. This number will boom in the new year, as more employees and employers see the benefits of taking up this option.

To prepare for this shift, UK businesses must adopt effective hybrid working strategies supported by the right processes. This requires organisations to focus on their company culture, and to ensure employees are empowered to be productive, but without getting close to burning out. Employers should also endeavour to provide their staff with the right tools, allowing them to work to the best of their ability, regardless of their location.

The end of the nine to five as work becomes more fragmented
In the past few years, organisations have become used to managing employees working from home. However, in 2023, they will need to adapt to managing people working from far-flung locations. This is because an increasing number of employees are working from locations such as pubs or coffee shops. We will also see a more employees taking ‘workcations’, working abroad to maximise their annual leave. In addition, there will be a rise in the number of digital nomad employees – those that work remotely full-time from various locations. To capitalise on this trend, countries such as Portugal and Spain are offering ‘digital nomad visas’ to allow remote employees to work legally.

The traditional nine to five will become a thing of the past. Organisations need to ensure they are ready to offer employees total flexibility, especially if they want to retain and attract the best talent, many of whom will want to work abroad. Ultimately, 2023 will be all about creating a more flexible and attractive workplace for employees keen to unshackle from the nine to five culture.

Growing disparity between employee and employer
We heard a lot about ‘quiet quitting’ in 2022, but we’ll hear a lot less about it in 2023, once employers realise that simply doing your job isn’t actually a bad thing. Quiet quitting defined employees that worked their hours and didn’t go above and beyond their job description. It suggested employees should work more hours and do more tasks than they are paid to do.

But in an era of hybrid work, the notion of working only your hours shouldn’t be a controversial one. According to a survey of 2,528 business decision makers in 16 countries across the world, organisations have seen a 72% rise in productivity as a result of hybrid work. As staff have become more productive in the hybrid era, employers will realise that rather than quiet quitting, employees are simply getting on with their jobs.

This kind of trend highlights the different attitudes towards work between employer and employee – a disparity that could impact retention and growth. Expectations differ, particularly on issues such as how often employees come to the office. The aforementioned survey found that 52% of employers believe hybrid work is a blip and are looking forward to all members of staff returning to the office. However, a survey of 7,261 hybrid workers revealed that 54% of employees want to split their time evenly between the office and home. To make hybrid work a success, employers need to meet the needs of employees and provide the level of flexibility that they expect.

Get ready for ‘Wagamama workspaces’
In 2023, employers will start to take inspiration from some unexpected places when they redesign offices to cater for the future of work. One such inspiration will be from restaurants, both in the form of booking spaces to work and how they organise their spaces. One workplace trend we will see much more of is ‘hotelling’ – where employees make use of a corporate booking system to reserve desks in their own workplace, for a day at a time.

This shift will also see organisations take inspiration from restaurant chains such as Wagamama when redesigning their offices spaces. We’ll likely see the introduction of bench-style desks and hot desks to ensure everyone has somewhere they can work when visiting the office.