Workplace and Office Trends to Watch in 2024 & Beyond GenZ

2024 is well underway with a return to the office already locked in for most managers as they find new ways to boost employee and team productivity.

The latest workplace trends can give us powerful insights into what managers and teams are thinking and how their preferences have shifted since the pandemic.

Whether you’re trying to optimise your team’s performance, find the ideal office in CapeTown to suit the evolving needs of your business, or find inspiration as a manager for the year ahead, we’ve put together a list of workplace trends and eye-opening insights that each one reveals.

Join us as we take a look at the latest data and find out what managers and teams are thinking and doing in preparation for the year ahead.

Are organisations and their teams on the same page?

There’s no doubt that the gap between managers’ perceptions of their teams and the real priorities of workers can sometimes be misaligned. However, as teams have returned to full-time in office or shifted to a hybrid working model, an extra layer of ambiguity has been introduced:

Some managers and teams simply don’t get together enough to share what’s truly on their minds.

Fortunately, the latest survey data gives us a glimpse into the true sentiments of both managers and employees– even the hard truths that they don’t always say to each other face-to-face.

Hybrid working has several benefits for employees, with job satisfaction peaking for workers who can spend some time at the office without returning to a full 40 hour-plus, in-office work week.

At the same time, stress levels – both those of managers and employees – have never been higher as the challenges of remote work with higher costs of living in most major countries are contributing to economic and personal worries.

Courtesy of GALLUP Data

44% of workers report that they’re experiencing all-time high stress levels, and the trend is unlikely to subside until significant improvements in the global economy come about.
Engagement levels are slowly rising as remote teams return to the office a few days a week, but employees on a hybrid schedule are still reporting a lack of mission and purpose in their work.

Predictably, remote workers are most severely affected by a sense of isolation and a lack of purpose, with many of them coming to see their work as simply a way to pay the bills and not a passion driven activity carried out within a team of colleagues they respect.

The sense of being “in it for the money” may explain the recent phenomenon of remote job moonlighting which has seen workers in several countries applying for multiple positions without their employer’s knowledge, and juggling two or three different online jobs.
This may seem like a clever strategy at first glance but it can ultimately result in burnout and is especially bad for companies. If team members dedicate the minimal possible effort to their tasks, the phenomenon which has come to be called “quiet quitting” can easily occur – and that’s bad news for productivity levels.

Managers themselves report feelings of being overwhelmed, under-appreciated, and overstressed with 55% of managerial professionals polled by Gallup recently indicating that they were looking for new positions in the year ahead.

The challenges of managing remote teams, a weak business environment brought about by high inflation, and the risk of a global recession are all contributing factors to this trend of ambiguity.

Deciphering workplace stats: teams seek social engagement

Looking behind the numbers, it’s not difficult to imagine why both team members and their managers may be feeling half-hearted about the workplace in 2024.

The social isolation that began during the pandemic hasn’t truly ended as many people stay at home long after the end of lockdown because social activities have become far too expensive in many parts of the world.

Fully remote workers may not be forced to stay indoors anymore, but the realities of working from home often resemble those that dominated our lives in the covid era.

A particular challenge for remote teams has been motivation, with all but the most solitary of workers complaining that the lack of a team contributes to feelings of low energy and distraction.
Given that almost 40% of remote and hybrid workers report feeling unconnected to their tasks or lacking a sense that their work is important to the organisation as a whole, managers who still haven’t requested a complete return to the office may find themselves with two tiered teams.
When in-office employees have a strong sense of purpose and direction, and primarily remote members lag in terms of motivation and possibly results, frustrations and misunderstandings are bound to happen.

Another disadvantage for hybrid workers is the lack of access to company resources. Depending on the employee’s job type, this ranges from devices and hardware available at the office to HR considerations like access to managers and mentors and opportunities to collaborate with other teams for more efficient results.

A lack of contact time with colleagues and managers can damage previously strong working relationships as members lose familiarity and trust in each other and default to a distant and less cohesive working style.

Gen Z becomes a fixture in the workplace – and older managers are struggling

As offices start to accommodate workers born between 1997 and 2013, traditional managers are realising that working with Gen Z team members comes with a unique set of challenges.

This young cohort, which is set to account for 25% of the workforce in just a few years’ time, has several unique characteristics that traditional managers often have a hard time accepting and accommodating.

Born at the height of the.com bubble peak, and raised in the years following the Great Recession of 2008, Gen Z has come to regard the workplace as an unstable and even temporary source of income – possibly under the influence of social media lifestyles that highlight the gap between regular people and rich influencers.

Making generalisations can be dangerous when it comes to potential hires, but managers from the Gen X and Boomer generations have already flooded social media with their complaints about Gen Z’s alleged inability to work effectively in teams and put the company first.
For their own part, Gen Z workers often complain that older managers are intrusive, intolerant to diverse working styles and team members, and don’t give younger employees the space they need to work independently.

Traditional companies that aren’t the most tech forward are frequent targets of ridicule among younger workers, who like to poke fun at the existence of “Stone Age technology” like desktop computers, and filing cabinets.

As Gen Z becomes a bigger part of the workplace, managers and younger team members will need to put aside these generational differences, many of which are based on stereotypes, and not the reality of each individual, and establish new and effective ways of working together.

Workspaces that allow for a variety of work styles and locations, including quiet areas for focused activities and social spaces for brainstorming and catching up, will become a necessity as the ranks of Gen Z workers begin to swell.

What the year ahead holds for South African offices

The South African Business landscape looks incrementally better this year as inflation starts to ease back into the Reserve Bank’s 3% to 6% inflation targeting range.

With companies anticipating lower interest rates, the commercial property sector is looking up, mirroring a general trend in the economy.
Despite the positive signs there is still the ongoing issue of load shedding, which has accelerated the return to the office and the end of remote teams for many businesses.
The outcome of the 2024 General election, could spark instability in the country but also holds the promise of political progress which could put the nation back on track for robust growth.

From an office space perspective, Cape Town offices will continue to see extremely high occupancy rates with demand outpacing supply in sought after areas of the Cape Peninsula.

Make 2024 the best year ever with a new office space

As local businesses reject the notion of remote work and the four-day-week for practical purposes, now could be the ideal time to secure premises for your business before availability drops even further.

If you’re ready to find the ideal commercial property to suit your company’s needs, our team is here to help. Connect with us to find your ideal premium office premises in the Cape Town area today.