WORK WORLD WORK : OPINION ESSAY

What Working will look like in 2022 and beyond : Is the world of work forever changed?

The World at large is seeing a renewed attention in the workplace issues of social injustice, economic inequality, corporate social responsibility, and diversity and inclusion.

1.- Tina Brown : ''People Felt Profound Digital Burnout Long Before Covid.''

The more the virus refuses to go gently into the night, the clearer it becomes that a post-Covid world is simply an illusion.

The workplace is less a place than an elusive, shape-shifting locus of professional self-doubt; even more of a mirage for bosses than it is for employees.

The boss may think she has a staff, but what's she's got are ghost soldiers - push them a little and they melt away. This leaves managers powerless in the face of demands for a hybrid office, a creature which only works if employees come in to work simultaneously.

If they don't, it's impossible to hold a meeting without critical gaps at the table. It means having a sprinkling of nominal participants who log in and are forgotten about, and a no-show or two who later explain, '' I'm sorry I missed that one ....... the Wi-Fi in Vermont is really bad.''

And let's not forget Facebook's virtual reality technology, in which absent co-workers appear as avatars, forcing the others to wear clunky headsets just to see the assistant marketing director as [ perhaps fittingly ] a nodding cartoon.

One misbegotten takeaway from the ''new workplace'' discussion is that many employees prefer to stay at home because they are more productive. Uh, no.

People felt profound digital burnout long before Covid. If there is one common denominator in the elusive post Covid mood, it's just that most sane people don't want to work much at all.

They prefer to do just enough to keep the wolf from the door and uphold a dash of professional relevance.

Old-school human resources departments are thing of the past. Ghost soldiers don't want to share their work problems with a suit whose role is to pacify you on behalf of government.

Work and personal life have been irretrievably blurred in the Zoom world. I predict a growing use of pastoral care agencies like Sarah McCaffrey's ~Solas Mind, which provides mental health support to freelancers in the creative sector.

Lockdown life revealed how fragile we all are - and how much we want to talk about it. The answer to office work in the future is clear :

Employees should commute to the office for the same three-day week, then melt away to their newly treasured secret worlds.

Tine Brown is a journalist and and author and the former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker magazines.

2.- Vicky Lau : '' People Are Looking For True Fulfillment ''

[Vicky Lau is the executive chef and owner of Tate Dining Room in Hong Kong.]

Over the past two years, the food and beverage industry has evolved rapidly. Restaurants and bars have scrambled to adapt to and survive the unprecedented rules and regulations brought on by the pandemic that have ultimately led to the demise of thousands of establishments around the world.

Meanwhile, Covid-19 lockdowns and new technologies have pushed workers to switch jobs or pursue entirely new careers.

There has been a noticeable shift away from the traditional career restaurant worker to one preferring to juggle multiple jobs or jump from one to the next. 

People are looking for true fulfillment in their lives and careers, and with e-commerce businesses easier to set up than ever, workers have become their own bosses and have even started their own enterprises.

Restrictions on indoor dining, coupled with the fact that many people are working from home, have created new pattern of habits with regard to how food is both approached [ rediscovering a love for home cooking ] and consumed [ the mushrooming use of food delivery apps ].

In Hong Kong, consumers have adopted much healthier eating habits. ~A new focus on self-care means many people want to be the best version of themselves coming out of pandemic.

More business owners are also sourcing locally, connecting with regional farmers and experimenting with their own creations.

Aligning with shifting consumer needs while taking on waves of lockdown restrictions are just the two of the many ways in which the industry has struggled to stay on top of the game.

In the future, our relationship with food will have to go back to the very beginning : good ingredients. For chefs, whether we're preparing a traditional meal or adapting to new way of dining, sourcing will be critical. The future of the industry depends on it.

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