Is nine to five dead?

I have seen this question start popping up again recently and I am actually kind of amazed this is still an issue. The revolution already happened and was accelerated by COVID sending everyone home for two years. The global workforce was forced to figure out how to work remotely and (feign shocked expression) many of them found it productive and don’t want to go back to the office.

This question of “9-5 in the office work dying” is not as simple as just a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’. Every company is different and every person is different. The ideal work environment should offer the flexibility of both. The most efficient company I ever worked for had all of the above.

• Many worked 8-4 in the office at a desk Mon-Fri because that is the way they worked best.
• Many worked from home 100% and created their own schedule to accommodate family and coworkers. In my case that was sometimes 4 days at 12 hours and other weeks required more or less but I had the flexibility to make my own hours.
• Yet others were on a structured 4-day, 10-hour plan in the office 1 day a week because that worked for them and their team.

The answer is really “it depends” and smart companies will evolve to provide a hybrid work environment that allows people to work efficiently. The days of cookie-cutter business models where everyone works the same way are over. Not because any one particular person said so, but because the global workforce was allowed to explore that possibility for two years and the world attitude toward “work” evolved. Business owners need to catch up and evolve if they have not already.

I have heard the argument that some businesses just can’t work that way, that they HAVE to be 9-5 in the office Monday to Friday. I don’t believe that, and I have seen no evidence to support that. Even long-standing traditional institutions like schools, law offices, and banks have changed shape and will need to continue to evolve to support the on-demand world we live in today. Those people who have shifted to some form of remote work and flexible schedule, now want to do their banking on Saturday or speak to a lawyer or doctor at 10PM, when it is convenient for them, as opposed to waiting until 9AM Monday morning.

The concept of “work” and what that means to both business owners and employees continues to evolve. Businesses that want to thrive in this new reality need to evolve with it.

Be Awesome; Change the World.