According to the report, in 2020 39 per cent of the people all around the world were working from home, and people can learn from sport how to move toward a post-pandemic work-from-home future.

The report suggests that transparency is key to the well- functioning of teams and companies, particularly when working remotely, by building trust between managers and their employees. In the workplace, like in the sport, success is often achieved through team cohesion rather than just collecting the best players.

People have to be ready for a new way of thinking about work and labour relations.

Talking about the benefits that remote working brought, the report underlines that:

• it gave firstly more freedom and flexibility to workers. Inthis regard, the analysis mentioned in the report shows that one-third of the workers surveyed would quit their jobs if their bosses required them to return to the office full time and those who favour flexible work schedules want to work from home on average 2.5 days per week.
• Cutting out the commute allowed extra saving costs for employers.
• Work from home reduced carbon emissions, with a great environmental benefit.
• The increased availability of residential and commercial property has also reduced rental prices.

On the other side, despite those benefits, evidence also shows concerning side effects:

• Mental health is the most critical issue: according to the report, the percentage
  of people with low levels of mental health has doubled since the pandemic began.
• Lack of social interaction, reduced work-life balance, increased distractions and isolation are others factors to be considered.
• Another concern is an increased vulnerability to cyberattacks.

The report concludes with four prediction for the future of work:

1. Offices will refill way faster and companies will probably begin to include the option of working from home to attract future employees;
2. Freelancing is the new remote working, as it offers flexibility for the employee and predictability for employers;
3. There will be a long-term trend of companies progressively outsourcing functions so that they can focus on the core business;
4. Inequalities will continue to drop between countries.

The issue is important for Deutsche Bank, that recently reached an agreement with its central works council on hybrid working. It allows employees to work remotely for up to 40% of their working hours, and in special cases for even up to 60%, and provides for those who commit to at least two days of teleworking a week to receive an employment allowance of €1,000, to be renewed every five years.