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Article from Issue 292/2025
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The business universe changed a little during the pandemic, and the fact is, it hasn't fully changed back. We're in unfamiliar spaces – the working world is clearly not like it was in the past, but did we actually choose these spaces we're in, or are we just here by default?

Dear Reader,

The business universe changed a little during the pandemic, and the fact is, it hasn't fully changed back. We're in unfamiliar spaces – the working world is clearly not like it was in the past, but did we actually choose these spaces we're in, or are we just here by default? Business leaders are considering these questions now as they contemplate a return from the work-from-home policies initiated during the pandemic years.

According to a recent report in Business Insider [1], Amazon's sweeping return to office mandate didn't go as planned. Employees reported full parking lots and not enough desks, with employees working out of lunchrooms and needing to tie up meeting spaces for private phone calls. It is almost as if they had never done a head count to see how many desks, meeting rooms, and parking spaces they would actually need. And, because a large number of the conversations were with clients and suppliers who were off-site, many of these meetings were still virtual and remote despite the employee's presence in the office.

[...]

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