Kasia Maynard

The next generation of the financial workplace will be shaped by organisations that can connect real estate, technology and people around a single vision of experience The financial workplace has become increasingly sophisticated as organisations collect more data about how people work than ever before. Yet despite this, many firms are still struggling to create workplaces that genuinely work for employees.

Office attendance has stabilised, but employee engagement is falling. New research by SPS and WORKTECH Academy reveals a widening gap between what organisations measure and what employees need. For the past five years, organisations have experimented with hybrid policies, return-to-office mandates and flexible working arrangements while trying to determine how often employees should be in the office. Those debates are now beginning to settle.

While employers across the world double down on office attendance, Victoria State in Australia is making flexible working a legal right. But what happens to the office when hybrid work is protected by law? As employers across the world establish their return-to-office policies, the prevailing direction of travel appears to be focusing on an office-first culture.