Good morning!
Fortune launched its inaugural Fortune @ Work: Return to Office Playbook yesterday. The playbook is a comprehensive package offering exclusive insights about how Fortune 500 HR leaders—and talent heads from prominent startups—are developing return-to-office strategies that support business needs and drive innovation. From Google and Amazon to Chevron and Kroger, Fortune’s writers explored how companies are rethinking the function of the office and the future of work more broadly.
So why now? Solving for the way your company works remains paramount in recruiting and retaining employees, even as we enter 2023. And it goes far beyond deciding between in-office, in-person, or hybrid work. How will you make in-person interactions meaningful? What mental health support will you provide to employees now working in isolation? How will you combat proximity bias? Do you need to invest in new office technology? What's more, the talent market still demands flexibility and choice. Employees remain split on where they wish to work, and a whopping 63% of job seekers say an employer’s openness to remote work is a top factor in their decision to accept a job offer, according to a recent study by recruiting software company iCIMS.
Fortune's return-to-office playbook is a reflection of this nuanced reality. Expect to learn from leaders who have doubled down on fully in-office, hybrid, or entirely remote work models and find out about the triumphs, struggles, and failures they experienced along the way. Dig into a side-by-side comparison of how ten people executives pressure tested and shaped their return-to-office plans. And look to the future as we break down how the most successful companies will leverage the office of the future. It's a must-read, all-access pass into the minds of some of the most preeminent experts in the talent space.
Lastly, we can’t talk about the future workplace without discussing the metaverse's role in return-to-office strategies. A deep look at Meta, Microsoft, and Accenture’s adoption of the metaverse considers whether the bets and investments companies make will be an apt substitution for in-person work. (Hint: Keep your expectations low at this point.)
I believe Ola Snow, CHRO at Cardinal Health, described the ever-morphing work of the future best in her interview with Fortune: “I like to say this is the next normal, not the new normal.”
Read the full Fortune @ Work: RTO Playbook here.
Amber Burton
amber.burton@fortune.com
@amberbburton
