It’s 6 a.m., Monday, somewhere in America, and Jane Q. Office Worker’s alarm goes off. She’s tempted to hit the snooze button. But she knows if she does, she might miss out on a desk with a view.
A hypothetical everyperson in most respects, Jane is exceptional in that she’s from the future—a few months ahead of us. The changes that will soon impact our commuting and office life, changes that are both cultural and technological, are already her daily reality.
Many of these tools, including workspace management apps and digital whiteboards, have been around for years. But, like the video-calling tech that got America’s homebound workers through the pandemic, they are only now becoming widespread. This list also includes newer and more experimental tech, like 360-degree conference-room cameras and contactless employee check-in systems.
Cumulatively, these many small changes will represent, for some of us anyway, a profound break from the past.
The seating scramble
6:02 a.m.: After scrolling past Slack alerts that came in overnight from colleagues across the globe, Jane opens an app that will help her determine where she’ll be working today…and with whom…and on what.
