Reimagine Inclusion

MYTH 13We Can Work from Home Now. The Future of Work Is Inclusive.

“The pandemic has changed everything. We can work from home now. The future of work is inclusive.”

A leader announced this on stage as the first wave of the pandemic came to a close. He was met with applause in the room, while clap emoji hands filled the Zoom boxes on the screens. The pandemic has forever changed the way we work. We will never go back to the way things used to be. Ninety‐minute commutes each way. Unable to take time off to prioritize your family. Trapped in your cubicle with your boss monitoring when you started and ended your day. Pressured to come into the office even when you were sick. Unable to persuade leaders to allow individuals to call into meetings or even use video because everyone was required to be in person.

According to McKinsey Research, in the beginning of the pandemic, 80 percent of individuals surveyed enjoyed working from home and 48 percent said that they were more productive than before.¹ They enjoyed great flexibility in managing their work and personal lives. Leaders were optimistic they could access more talent pools, with the ability to hire from anywhere in the world. They could embrace more technology to boost productivity. And they could relook at office space, reinvesting any cost savings back into the business and into their employees.

Because suddenly, “the future of work” had arrived. And for the better part of two years, many of us were relegated to working ...