“As a PI holding lots of careers in my hands, the hardest thing was managing their expectations,” says Nik-Zainal, whose priorities suddenly switched to addressing worries about well-being, lost experiments, staying connected and how to move research forward from various remote locations.
In the two years since the World Health Organization characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic, many research groups have established a ‘new normal’ routine that blends working from home with time in the laboratory. It’s clear that many pre-pandemic work patterns are gone for good.
Indeed, academic supervisors are following the same trends as employers in other sectors. Last year, the World Economic Forum (WEF) asked 12,500 employees from 29 countries about their views on the future of work, post-pandemic. Two-thirds responded that they wanted more flexibility in the amount of time they spent in the office, and 65% reported that they were more productive when they had a flexible schedule that allowed them to do some work from home. On average, respondents wanted to spend 2.5 days per week working from home once pandemic restrictions are lifted. The WEF survey and others show that the predictions that remote work would be disruptive, unproductive or lead to burnout were largely unfounded, and that workers’ desire for flexibility greatly outweighs these concerns (see ‘What hybrid workers want’).Last year, several global and US surveys asked employees across all sectors about work patterns once the pandemic is over or restrictions are lifted. Respondents’ desire for flexibility, in terms of both when and where they worked, trumped most concerns about the lack of face time with colleagues, maintaining productivity and even pay, in some cases. At the same time, the data show that happier workers would allow employers to reap cost savings and other benefits.
According to a 2021 World Economic Forum (WEF) survey of workers in 29 nations, those in China, France and Belgium want to work an average of 1.9 days a week from home, whereas those in India would prefer 3.4 days at home . The WEF also found that before the pandemic, 24% of employees globally worked mostly from home. By July 2021, the proportion working from home had risen to 39%, and a further 22% were working from another non-office location.
In a 2021 survey of 2,050 US workers, carried out by consultancy firm Global Workplace Analytics in Carlsbad, California, 90% of respondents said they were as productive — or more so — working remotely as in the office, and 84% of respondents said working remotely after the pandemic would make them happier.The consultancy, which specializes in flexible workplace strategies, has also studied the benefits to employers and employees of higher levels of remote working. In a 2021 study on telecommuting trends, it estimated that a typical US employer could save, on average, US$11,000 per year per employee working remotely half-time, in part because of increased productivity, lower office costs, and decreased staff turnover. Nik-Zainal’s team has embraced hybrid working. Those who need to do bench work have sorted themselves out according to rotation schedules and culture-room capacities. Those who do computer-based analysis have more flexibility, but generally work in the lab either twice a week or every weekday during the core hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.. Team meetings are held between those hours, too.
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