Welcome to The Future of Work, a series exploring the forces reshaping careers in fashion and beauty.
After five years of flexible working, the hybrid bubble has burst. Companies including TikTok, Amazon and Burberry Americas are introducing return-to-office mandates, some of which have sparked discontent among employees.
The initial switch to remote working during the pandemic turned many organisations on their heads, but once people got used to it, many companies benefitted from an initial boost in day-to-day productivity, says Wendy Miller, chief people officer at McKinsey North America. Now, they’re grappling with a long-term impact on culture and connection. “The human glue has disappeared, and we haven’t figured out how to fix it. That’s why we’re seeing people talk about lack of productivity, engagement, culture, feeling connected or having purpose,” says Roy Schwartz, co-founder of internal communications platform Axios HQ.
According to an Axios HQ survey of US business leaders and employees, almost half (45 per cent) of companies are fully back in the office, while 44 per cent are navigating a hybrid model. Most leaders require employees to be back three days per week (36 per cent), followed by four days per week (19 per cent) and two per week (17 per cent), with 37 per cent of leaders stating they plan to further increase the number of in-office days.
Many of the challenges with return-to-office mandates are shared across industries. Fashion in particular has a women-heavy workforce, many of whom are mothers who have relied on flexible work since Covid. Some workers may have moved out of the expensive big cities where fashion companies are typically based, because they were only required to commute once or twice a week. At the same time, fashion also employs a high proportion of young people, whose career development would benefit from more in-office time, according to people and culture experts.
It’s critical for companies to navigate the remote vs hybrid vs office debate carefully. “The people who find return-to-office mandates most difficult are parents and those with caregiving responsibilities, so you risk losing those people. Your highest performers also want trust, so they’re often very turned off by a lack of flexibility,” says Nick South, managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) people practice. “If you’re not careful, you risk losing the people who come from a variety of backgrounds and deliver great things for your organisation. Measuring performance by when you tap in and tap out doesn’t inspire a culture of creativity.”
Often the problem itself isn’t the requirement, it’s how the transition is communicated. “I have yet to see a return-to-office mandate that actually speaks to the real reasons people should be back in office,” says workplace culture expert and soft skills coach Grace McCarrick. A lot of the reasons are intangibles that either haven’t been measured, or the measurements haven’t been communicated. “Nobody’s saying, ‘We need you in the office X number of hours because this is a skill you can only develop face to face.’ Instead, it’s vague: ‘We’ll be more productive,’ or ‘closer as a team,’ which just doesn’t land.”
Does hybrid work still have a future? Experts say this depends on the organisation’s goals, but in most cases employees are likely to demand some form of hybridisation. The way many companies are handling their current return-to-office enforcements is only likely to increase burnout and decrease engagement, as many employees feel that they’re being told what to do and haven’t been trusted to make decisions around their work. Looking to a future where we’re expected to live and work longer, experts predict that hybrid work will become even more personalised, with the most successful companies getting granular about how to get the most out of their specific teams.
What’s the best policy for you?
Building a hybrid work policy is not a one-size-fits-all. There are three main considerations: your employees’ desires, generational preferences and the business’s needs.
Finding a sustainable workplace policy begins with understanding the work itself. “What is the work we do? What does that mean we need, and what’s possible?” asks South. This might take into consideration how client-facing the business is, what needs you have around collaborative work and learning opportunities.
Companies can conduct regular pulse checks to understand how employees are feeling (for instance, surveying their sense of belonging or asking what they like and dislike about their current work patterns), and measure that against the business’s performance. There are also generational preferences to consider. “People in their 20s want development and growth. In their 30s and 40s, they want stability and work-life balance. In their 50s and 60s, they want to be valued for their contributions and have the opportunity to share knowledge,” says South, referencing a BCG survey conducted across more than 200 markets. “We need workplaces where people feel psychologically safe to talk about what matters to them at different stages.”
The mistake many make is dictating a policy before engaging employees, experts say. According to Axios HQ’s research, 31 per cent of employees would be more likely to accept a new workplace expectation if their feedback was considered and 28 per cent would feel better about workplace changes if they knew what alternative options were explored.
It’s near impossible to create a policy that works for everyone, so it’s likely to demand some give and take. Companies should also approach new policies with a test-and-adapt mindset, as opposed to one of dogma. “Many of us don’t want to continue to think that we have to evolve the way we work. That is an exhausting idea. But reviewing and revisiting your approach on an annual or semi-annual basis can ensure you’re attracting and retaining the right talent,” says Miller.
Once the job market begins to improve, experts also predict that some employees may shuffle around to join companies that are more aligned with the life and work styles they value.
Office days shouldn’t feel like a burden. “In fashion or luxury, you’re working in a space people dream of entering. The buzz of being in a creative, collaborative space is part of the magic,” says BCG’s South. Delivering on this requires companies to reinvigorate their office culture. “If you want to run a high-performing team, you have to put the pieces in place that allow them to be that,” adds McCarrick. “If you want people to be collaborative, have great lunch spaces, big open conference rooms, sofa areas where people can sit with their laptops and chat, have snacks around. Create the environment you want people to operate in.”
Longevity, AI, personalisation: The future of work
Innovation in medicine, wellness and technology has led to a rise in life expectancy, which is significantly implicating the way we work.
“There’s a huge amount of frustration on both ends of the workforce. You’ve got people in their 60s who expected to be mentors, to be respected for their experience, and now nobody’s listening because everyone’s on their phones or remote,” says McCarrick. “And then you’ve got younger employees who don’t want to be managed, they want to be coached. They are desperate for mentorship and education, but don’t know how to get it.” The solution? Pair them up. “If you create ongoing learning and formal mentorship programmes that utilise the older end and the younger end, you create a really low cost, circuitous way to solve both those problems.”
Experts remain confident that hybrid work is the future. Axios HQ VP of brand and strategy Emily Inverso references the scientific concept of “attention residue”, which describes the cognitive cost of switching tasks when the ‘residue’ of a previous task lingers. “It makes us even less present and less focused on the work that needs to be done, because there’s some sort of stress or tension externally for what you wish you could be doing in that moment,” she says. “Having some control over your time, whether you’re in the office or remote, can actually make you more productive and present.”
“If you focus on the outcomes and accountability, that flexibility becomes a good thing because the employee values it and sees you trust them,” says South.
McCarrick predicts the most innovative companies will move away from thinking of jobs as rigid boxes. “We’ve moved beyond this idea that a job is a box created before you get there for a specific function and set of skills, and you fit yourself into that predetermined box. In a more flexible environment, everyone has a unique set of skills, and tasks and projects are based on that,” says McCarrick. In this model, employees would operate more like consultants within their own teams.
The main challenge with making the move is that it’s less structured and comfortable. “Where people struggle is if they don’t provide a clear direction,” says South. “You have to focus on the outcomes and holding people accountable for what they deliver — then, in that context, give people the freedom to make certain calls about how they work. The risk is that organisations fall back into old habits, like using physical presence as a proxy for performance.”
Communication will become more important as work becomes more personalised. Already, Axios HQ’s research suggests that some of the most valued training among employees focuses on communication and management skills. “Very soon, we’re going to be managing AI agents alongside humans. Agents will be part of the team, doing tasks at a near-human level. Employees want to learn strategic communication skills [to help them navigate this],” says Schwartz.
Within human teams, communication will also become increasingly important; not only to ensure that departments and individuals are aligned on projects and goals, but also to manage conflict when employees’ work expectations differ. “It requires real collaboration — you give a little and I give a little,” says Miller. “If organisations focus on improving communication, this doesn’t create tension, it actually improves the team experience.”
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