The supposedly looming return to normality – whatever that is – may have almost squashed the hopes of a more equal, mutual-aiding, communitarian country that briefly flared to life during the first lockdown. But for those lucky enough to have a job that can just about be done without leaving the house, perhaps one alleged source of optimism still burns bright.
Big companies seem more open than ever to the idea of homeworking arrangements staying in place even after the worst of the pandemic is over and restrictions are lifted, and for some people the old grind of commuting and congregating in offices may at least partially be over. What this could mean for the smaller businesses that depend on the presence of large employers is clear from our emptied-out city centres, but “hybrid working” is the season’s most fashionable corporate concept, often talked up in the same la-di-da tones as all those lockdown-based articles about Zoom fatigue and the trials of baking bread.
+INFO: The Guardian
