State of Work Today: 5 Working Concepts That Didn’t Exist 20 Years Ago

Imagine the classic business person from the 90s: brown briefcase, suit with shoulder pads, American-Psycho-esque collared shirts, clunky box-like desktop computers, and phone headsets were large and in charge.

Things have changed a lot since then, though. Brown briefcases are now for trendy laptop bags. People swap suits for casual dress codes. Clunky computers transformed into sleek and portable laptops.

What else has changed in the state of work today? Let’s look at 5 concepts that would’ve seemed as alien in the 90s as those clunky old computers seem to us now. 

1. Virtual Offices

With the amount of remote workers and businesses increasing every day, a lot of companies don’t have a physical or private office space at all. 

But even remote workers and businesses can have a need for a physical address sometimes: maintaining a presence in a certain area/city, administrative services, and a mailing address are just a few of the benefits that a physical office can give businesses. 

However, physical spaces come with a significant cost in terms of rent and maintenance. It's also not always worth the investment if it's only needed sometimes or rarely for remote workers.

Enter virtual offices. 

A virtual office is a service that provides companies with a virtual office address for mail/packages, phone answering services, administrative services, access to meeting rooms when needed, call forwarding, and professional/impressive address locations. 

The idea of working remotely, let alone using something called a “virtual office”, wasn’t possible until recently. Now, virtual offices and rentable office space are essential for modern businesses.

2. Working Remotely

Speaking of working remotely, that was also a concept that was foreign until recently: it’s grown by 159 percent from 2005 to 2017. 

This is thanks to improved technology that can allow workers to work from home along with the fact that this technology is now accessible to many more people. Most people in the US have access to a computer and, as of 2015, about 80 percent own their own computer compared to only about 40 percent in 2000.

This makes it much easier for people to do their work where they please. 66 percent of companies allow employees to work from home and 70 percent of people work remotely at least one day a week.

Another reason why remote work has exploded in the last 20 years are all the studies showing that not only do the majority of people want to work remotely, but they’re also:

• More productive
• Less stressed
• Saving money on commuting costs
• Reducing harmful environmental emissions caused by commuting/traditional office life

3. Zany Employee Perks

All that people used to get from their companies was a Christmas bonus (sometimes), insurance, and a pat on the back for a job well done.

Nowadays, employees expect their companies to provide them with perks that are more reminiscent of adult playgrounds than offices. 

Kombucha on tap, employee lounges with ping pong tables, company field day games, unlimited vacation, pet-friendly workplaces, technology stipends, onsite gyms, free lunches, reduced time on summer Fridays, and more are becoming the standard for attracting employees nowadays. 

Some more practical offerings that didn’t used to exist include:

• Paid parental leave (including paternity leave)
• Professional development classes and stipends
• Commuter stipends/discounts
• On-site child care 
• Stock options

4. “Job Hopping”

Older generations like Baby Boomers and Gen Xers tended to stay at companies for very long periods or stay with the same company for the entirety of their working lives.

The current working generation, Millennials, do things a little bit differently: job hopping has become standard and accepted. Job hopping refers to staying at a job for a relatively short period of time before moving onto another opportunity.

Indeed, 21 percent of Millennials say they’ve switched jobs within the last year and 60 percent are constantly open for a new job opportunity no matter how long they’ve been in their current position.

5. Mental Health Days

In the past, not many people paid attention to mental health. In fact, if you even uttered the fact that you’d considered going to therapy, you might’ve been looked down upon or been discriminated against at work.

Today, we know a lot more about the realities of mental health and how it affects. There are now laws in place that prevent discrimination, and many employers offer mental health workshops and programs for their employees.

Another new emergence in the workforce is the idea and practice of mental health days. These are like sick days except instead of a physical sickness, it’s a mental one. This could be due to depression, anxiety, or any other mental health issue. 

In the past, many employees would have to suffer in silence or lie and say they were physically sick in order to have a day off. Now, many more businesses are understanding of employee mental health and allow time off for it.