Roughly 10 Years ago, shortly after the GFC, at a point where smart phone technology was taking off, I had some bold visions for big business in 2025. Interwoven with the view that technology would empower the individual was a left field idea. An idea, perhaps even utopian, that big corporations would no longer exist in their current form, if at all.  

Effectively, big business whilst important in key industries such as banking & insurance, would be supplanted in others by much smaller de centralized organizations of 10 or less. Technology would be an enabler allowing smaller teams (companies) to operate with other smaller teams where once there would have been an overarching command and control monolith.  

Fast forward to 2019 it was becoming increasingly evident that technology, rather than democratizing the workplace, had in fact focused wealth and power in the hands of multinationals such as Facebook, Alphabet, Apple & Amazon. The Guardian newspaper lamented how society and government had squandered the opportunity to put labour rather than business front and center, in this great technological revolution we are all experiencing.

In the last 4 Months there has been significant altering of big businesses trajectories, outlooks and quite possibly relevance. Could my 2025 vision still be a possibility, and is it in fact the right vision to benefit society as a whole? I would argue that individuals (including businesses) need to view recent events as an opportunity to re-examine what is important now and in the future. Lockdown has given us time to stop and reflect, to look at what really is important. Our needs versus our wants and a more balanced approach to work / life.

Good things take time and typically happen in small steps. An analyst on a recent business podcast spoke very candidly about the future of the workplace and in particular how we will interact. He spoke of a permanent shift to smaller city workspaces and associated services (think less restaurants and fewer retail outlets in town) to a more suburban work from home/ socializing environment. I’m hoping the shift to multiple places of work is a forerunner to a greater number of small enterprise and larger businesses operating in a more employee focused paradigm.

Interior Design Build is a fully integrated design and build company specializing in commercial office space in the city and at home.  We’re a small highly experienced team of designers and builders ready to assist businesses downsizing to smaller office spaces and to help employees with their home office conversions. From a simple office desk and ergonomic chair right through to a room / garage conversion we are here to help. Please feel free to get in touch.