Back to reality: how will going back to work work?

Boris Johnson’s ‘work from home if you can’ rule will soon come to an end. Not everyone is thrilled. Companies are scrambling to resume ‘normal’ service, with a workforce that hasn’t set foot in the office for almost a year and, in many cases, is reluctant to come back at all. How do you keep the flexibility, productivity, and focus of WFH, as well as the collaborative and creative culture of the office? Hybrid working sounds great in theory – but how will it work in practice? What about workplace testing, and social distancing? How much does it cost to get set up for the ‘best of both’? Will ‘hybrid working’ deepen existing disadvantages, or create new areas of discrimination? Flexible WFH policies were once the hallmark of a progressive employer – but after a year stuck in kitchens with bad WiFi and the wrong type of chair, are we ready to get ‘back to work’ – technically, procedurally, or culturally?