THE INTERVIEW SEPTEMBER 2020
NO MORE 9 TO 5?
COVID-19 has changed the way office-based staff work forever, but could remote
working also become commonplace in hands-on sectors like manufacturing?
BY CHRIS BECK
In the years to come, the
afternoon of 23 March 2020
will be known as when the
way we work changed forever.
When Boris Johnson ordered
anyone who can work from
home to do so with immediate
effect to attempt to combat the
coronavirus pandemic, offices,
factories and shops up and
down the land pulled down the
shutters and a new world of
Zoom calls and glimpses into
colleagues’ living rooms began.
Of course, many employers,
including in manufacturing,
continued operating through
the lockdown, albeit with social
distancing measures in place.
However, for most, a return to
the traditional working week
is a long way off – if it will ever
happen again. A recent BBC
survey (https://bbc.in/2YBmvjR)
of 50 of the country’s largest
employers found that almost
half (48%) have no plans to
bring staff back to the office at
all, while all said that they can’t
envisage a time when every
employee is in the office at the
same time.
The impact on office-based
work is obvious, but could
those in manufacturing also
benefit from a shake up in
how they work? To find out
more, MM spoke to Chris
Moriarty, director of insight
and engagement at the Institute
of Workplace and Facilities
Management (IWFM).
MM: How has the world
of work changed since
lockdown began?
CM: The change since March
has been profound. What
we’re seeing in office-based
sectors is a push towards more
flexible arrangements, where
employees can determine how
they want to work. Of course,
that’s not necessarily an option
for manufacturing workers.
Something manufacturing
might see, however, is changing
worker expectations around
shift patterns and how and
when they come into work. As
the corporate office workforce
starts to build their work life
around their personal life, as
opposed to the other way round
like it has been for so long, you may start to see
that trickle into sectors like manufacturing as
society places more emphasis on ensuring a better
work/life balance.
Some manufacturers may decide they can’t
run the risk of having to shut the plant down
again if there’s a second wave of COVID-19 or
another outbreak in the future. In that case, there
may be a massive investment in automation and
technology to minimise the risk to people.
An even more radical solution that we’re
looking at is whether manufacturing takes
a similar pattern to what’s happening in the
corporate world, with a move towards regional
‘hubs’ and communal buildings that act as a
working space for anyone who lives in the vicinity.
It could be that we see manufacturing go down a
similar route, where companies hire out a space,
especially as technology like 3D printing removes
the need for specific equipment to be in specific
places – could some manufacturers take this as an
opportunity to do something really different?
MM: How much of a mindset shift is
this new way of working for leaders in
business – especially manufacturing?
CM: It’ll be a huge challenge, even for those who
can logically work remotely. ONS data released
earlier this year (https://bit.ly/34e5n7s) showed
that up until December 2019, over 90% of UK
workers had never worked from home. Obviously,
in sectors like manufacturing, the numbers
would be even higher. When it comes to change
management within offices, necessity has been
the mother of all invention: things have been
forced to adapt and the change management
procedure has been accelerated.
‘Manufacturing’ is engrained not just in
someone’s career, but many of the processes and
management techniques are decades old and will
be hard to change. It’ll be a huge mindset shift for
the leaders of these organisations, especially if
they’ve worked their way up through the industry.
It’s difficult to innovate when you’re used to
a certain way of working, as all you can do is
innovate within the constraints of the existing
model, as opposed to making radical changes that
may sometimes be necessary.
It’ll also be a huge change for the workers –
the reality is that your work defines your life. For
most people, our whole life is stitched around
our model of working. Even in workplaces where
16 www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk
stock.adobe.com
/2YBmvjR)
/34e5n7s)
/www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk
/stock.adobe.com