[Jjinbit] "Mixing remote work and office is difficult, something has to be sacrificed" [Office Shift](29)

[Interview] David Sax, Author of 'Things Digital Can't Do'
"Work is a Human Element Beyond Tasks, AI, and Technological Advances"

Editor's Note[Jjinbit] is short for 'Jung Hyunjin's Business Trend' and 'Real Business Trend,' a segment that showcases trends in the changing nature of work. Within Jjinbit, the segment 'Office Shift' carefully examines the changes in offices triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and lays the groundwork for exploring answers to new work styles through experiments we have experienced together. It comes to you every Saturday and Sunday morning. After 40 installments, it will also be available as a book.

The whole world is caught up in the artificial intelligence (AI) craze. The AI chatbot competition that began with ChatGPT has become embedded in the daily lives of people worldwide through search engines and work software. Apple unveiled its new mixed reality (MR) headset 'Vision Pro' for the first time in nine years, heralding the revival of the metaverse. It is said to be usable for work in conjunction with Mac laptops. Digital technology is taking over the office.

Digital technology was at the center of offices worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. Facing an unprecedented crisis, workers everywhere turned on their laptops. They held meetings and conversations via video calls, building relationships that way. Just as the innovation of technology shone during the crisis, the term 'Zoom fatigue'?the exhaustion from back-to-back video meetings?became popular, and more people felt loneliness and isolation.

"The biggest lesson the pandemic taught us is that digital technology can improve our lives but sometimes also worsen them. Just as not all technology equates to progress, not all progress comes from new technology." ? from the book What Digital Can’t Do

[Jjinbit] "Mixing remote work and office is difficult, something has to be sacrificed" [Office Shift](29)

David Sax (44), a Canadian journalist and author of the global bestseller Revenge of Analog, recently released a follow-up in Korea titled The Future Is Analog. In the first chapter, he discusses changes in companies and 'what disappeared during remote work.' Having gained significant attention from major global media including The New York Times (NYT) with his previous work, he reportedly met with over 200 experts to write this book.

Sax looks into what digital technology misses in this rapidly advancing era and emphasizes the value of analog. In a written interview on the 5th, he was asked about 'what we lost' in the remote work environment.

◆ "Resistance to Returning to the Office Is a Labor-Management Power Struggle"

"Remote work is convenient and comfortable. There’s no commuting, and you don’t have to wake up early. It provides time and flexibility to do things like exercise or take walks."

Conflicts between companies demanding a return to the office and employees resisting it continue worldwide. When asked why this phenomenon occurs, Sax gave a surprisingly straightforward answer for an author who advocates analog’s importance. As a journalist and writer who has worked remotely his entire life, he said he has only worked in an office once. He knows better than anyone how convenient remote work is and is adept at handling laptops, emails, and video meetings. He looked deeper into the conflict between companies and employees beyond the simple reason.

"When remote work started during COVID-19, workers gained tremendous freedom and power over their time and bodies. This was unprecedented in labor relations with companies. What we are seeing now is ultimately a power struggle between labor and management. It’s not about what is the most efficient or productive way to work, but about workers trying to maintain the autonomy over power, body, and time they had gained and not easily give it up. The really complicated thing is that nothing is easy or simple. There is no easy way to satisfy everyone’s wishes."

Even Sax, who was accustomed to remote work, found the COVID-19 period challenging. He confessed that after more than two online meetings a day, he felt physically exhausted. Sax repeatedly emphasized that there are things digital technology alone cannot provide in our workplaces. In particular, while digital technology allows exchanging data and facts, it is difficult to obtain information beyond that.

"Communicating in the same space involves much more than words; a large part of what we 'say' is body language, facial expressions, gestures, even smells. Such information is incredibly important for our work. We can communicate well online, but we miss a lot of things we don’t even realize. This results in long-term costs in terms of our understanding, social networks, and the quality of information exchanged related to work."

During the pandemic, Sax met Jennifer Kolstad, who is in charge of global workplace design at Ford Motor Company. She shared an experience from 2021 when she was designing offices including the headquarters and was struggling because online meetings were not progressing work. She gathered eight key employees in a conference room. A task that had not made progress for months was completed in just three hours. They printed and posted ideas on the conference room walls, moved them around as they talked, and organized them, which quickly concluded the discussion.

◆ Negative Views on Hybrid and Parental Remote Work Experiments

Recognizing these limitations, companies have been introducing 'hybrid work' since last year, combining remote work and office attendance. This approach aims to complement the shortcomings of remote work by spending part of the work hours in the office. However, Sax expressed a negative stance on this work style.

"In the analog world, two places cannot coexist at once. Mixing remote and office work is very difficult. No matter how smart you are, how well you schedule, or how flexibly you manage the office, people cannot be in two places simultaneously and something must be sacrificed. It’s easy for one person like me, a writer, but for companies with five or more employees, let alone large corporations like Hyundai, it’s very difficult."

Sax also expressed concerns about the parental remote work policies introduced this year by the Korean and Japanese governments as part of low birthrate countermeasures. As a father of two, he shared his experience of juggling childcare and work during the pandemic. He mentioned that he is answering this interview after 10 p.m., when his children are asleep.

"I think childcare is the most important issue in the workplace. It’s connected to birth rates, economic conditions, and women’s roles as workers. What I confirmed during COVID-19 is that parents do not want to do childcare during work hours. It’s impossible to balance. It’s torture. Ask parents who worked remotely while raising children during the pandemic. What parents want is 'flexibility' to pause work early and start a bit later. That way, parents can take their kids to school or have dinner together."

◆ "Work Is Part of Being Human... More Than Just 'Tasks'"

The original title of Sax’s new book released domestically is The Future Is Analog: How to Create a More Human World. Since his previous work Revenge of Analog, he has emphasized the importance of humanity that we miss in the digital world. Focusing on analog, he was asked whether digital and analog can harmoniously coexist in our work environment.

"I think they already have. Most people work with both humans and computers and know when and what is needed and how to combine them best. No one says we should work analog without computers at all. It’s naive to think digitizing everything is better. We tried full remote work, and if it had been so good and perfect, no one would have wanted to return to the office. We must continuously find a reasonable balance. It will never be perfect, but it doesn’t have to be. Such conflicts will lead to better outcomes."

During the interview, Sax made us reflect on the meaning of work. He emphasized that it is not just about performing tasks using digital technology but about building relationships with others and creating life within that.

"Work doesn’t happen outside of life. We spend more of our waking hours working than on anything else?more than eating, exercising, sex, or cultural activities. Relationships, friends, learning, information, jokes, sights, sounds?all gained at work?are a big part of life. Just because you can do 'tasks' remotely doesn’t mean the rest is unimportant. Think of friends you met at work. You might even have a partner. You might have mentors. Are those relationships less important just because they are connected to the office?"

"I think work is more than just tasks. Work is how we interact with the world and part of being human. The future of work will always be connected to that (being human), regardless of the next technological advances like the AI storm or whatever comes."