Flexible Work To Be The New Norm of 2021

In 2020, Covid-19 has changed all
of our life activities, and work isn’t an exception. Work has turned out to be
an activity that people can practice anywhere, not only in offices. Also,
businesses are looking for talents, not only employees with years of experience
and bachelor’s degree.

Key Takeaways

Opponents become supporters
Employees will escape offices
Location doesn’t matter
Businesses will follow,
attract, and retain top talents

Last Reviewed: April 2026 | Sources: DrJobPro Hiring Data Q1 2026.

So, flexible job models will be the new standard in the coming year, soaring the scale of employee engagement, productivity, and economic gains. And four primary trends will empower them:

Opponents become supporters

The global remote work system
application that resulted from the pandemic has altered long-standing
stereotypes about remote work. Although managers and business owners were
always convinced that it is unlikely that ‘actual jobs’ will be accomplished
outside the workplace, they are now aware of the positive effect on staff
engagement, work-life balance, mental health, costs, and the environment.

According to a survey undertaken
by Citrix and OnePoll, 70 out of 10,000 employees over six countries feel they
are more productive while working from home. And 83 believe they have a
stronger work-life balance when they work outside the workplace.

In the coming year, savvy
businesses are taking this into consideration to implement technology-enabled
remote work models that will allow them to tap into new capabilities and talent
pools beyond switching distances to conventional work hubs (offices, call
centers, etc.) and enjoy the advantages they offer.

Employees will escape offices

Due to Covid-19 precautionary
measurements of social-distancing, screening, and wearing masks, many employees
will escape going to the office every day to avoid this anxiety.

64 out of 2,000 US employees who
replied to a separate Citrix-OnePoll survey said they did not feel safe going
back to the office for one month or more. And three percent say they don’t want
to go back to full time.

Recognizing this, businesses can
reimagine the workplace’s design and transition from designing sites to
purpose-built environments to enable employees to interact quickly and
successfully with coworkers, collaborators, and clients to promote productivity
and value.

Location doesn’t matter

If you seek a big career, you have
to relocate to a big city to find and enjoy it. But as the job has gone
virtual, the place has become less critical to career advancement and
development than ever before. One in four respondents to another Citrix survey
of 2,000 US knowledge employees suggested that they have left their city homes
or are preparing to do so because:

Their work is now 100% remote and will be permanent (37%)
They only ought to go to the workplace once a week (25%)
The pandemic has proved that they can do their work from everywhere
(22%)

Businesses will follow,
attract, and retain top talents

Even the light of the pandemic,
the severe searching for talents has not stopped. It has only escalated in
several cases as firms adapt their companies to adapt to changing market
conditions and consumer needs. Although talented professionals might be few, they
are everywhere.

According to a survey undertaken
by the Centre of Economics and Business Research (Cebr), if given the
opportunity, 95 percent of the 2,500 knowledge employees surveyed who are
working claim they will work from home on average 2.4 days a week. And between
60% and 70% said they would do so from nearby coffee shops, shared workplaces,
and other distant locations at least one day a week.

Due to flexible work models and
digital workplace technologies, businesses will hire a neglected segment of
talented employees who have in-demand skills but have left out because typical
work models did not suit their lives or responsibilities. Also, it didn’t offer
the space need to work and succeed from anywhere. And by doing so, Cebr
forecasts that economic gains across the US economy will grow by more than $2
trillion and raise GDP by 10.2%.

Although the future is
unpredictable, obstacles will undoubtedly hinder businesses’ plans in the
coming year. Most companies that adopt flexible models and emerging technology
will build a new operating way that enables employees to do their best and push
their company’s progress.