The COVID-19 pandemic forced many workers to work from home, and work styles changed dramatically in 2020. After the state of emergency was lifted, some companies moved or downsized their offices as people continued to work from home, leading to a trend of people moving their offices. As the world continues to explore new ways of working, we asked ITOKI's President Hirai about his current work style and the "workplace of the future."
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Interview and text by Yukiko Yasuraku
Photo by Masataka Nakano
A way of working that makes full use of both the "office" and other places
-Has the way you work changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic?
After the state of emergency was declared, I worked from home for about 80% of the month for a while. Now, the ratio is 30-40%. I've noticed a number of things from this new experience.
-What do you mean?
In one word, it's "quite possible." There are no problems with online meetings for executives. However, compared to face-to-face meetings, it may be because they are not yet used to it, but when it comes to exchanging ideas or brainstorming, it doesn't go so well.
-So there are cases where working from home and working in an office are suitable and cases where they are not.
That's right. From now on, we will be exploring ways of working that combine the "office" and other places, which we call "hybrid," and that allow us to make full use of both. And in order to maximize the capabilities of individuals, this choice will be made on an individual basis, not a company basis.
I am currently working away from home, and because I have more freedom in the way I work, I can, for example, do some cleaning or laundry in the morning before starting work at my leisure, which has made things easier mentally.
If this is true even for people living alone, it made me realize once again how important it is to live in a society where people can control how they work, especially for families with small children or where both partners work.
The argument that "offices are unnecessary" is both a crisis and an opportunity
-As an office furniture manufacturer, what impact has the COVID-19 pandemic had?
Now, even people who have not given much thought to working styles and offices are being forced to do so, and as a result, the diversification of working styles has accelerated.
There is even talk of offices being unnecessary. If offices were to disappear and desks and chairs were no longer needed, it would be a business crisis for us!
- I couldn't have imagined it would end up like this...
But to put it another way, we are now in an age where the "workplace" is receiving more attention than ever before. The argument that offices are unnecessary is part of the process in which work styles become more diverse.
In fact, we have received many requests to "think about ways to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic in the office" and "please act as our partner to advise us as we think about the future of offices," so I think this could become a major opportunity in the medium to long term.
-Indeed, I think this incident has caused many people to re-examine the way they work and live.
Many Japanese companies have grown by assigning work in a top-down manner and having employees complete the tasks. But that is no longer the case. In a situation where there are no answers, changing the way people work so that they can choose for themselves is a major challenge for Japan.
In that sense, I believe the COVID-19 pandemic is an event that has the potential to dramatically change human values and even our way of life.
Next time, we 'll talk about "the working environment that will be required in the future" and take a closer look at the president's own work-from-home environment!
