. . . but you can expect to see more iPads floating around the office.
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Looking for a glimpse of what the workplace will look like in five years?
Take your Rolodex, your desktop computer and your fax machine — and throw them in the trash (if you haven’t already). And while you’re at it, toss the corner office and cubicles into a Dumpster as well.
That’s according to a survey of more than 7,000 professionals conducted by LinkedIn on what trends and tools are in danger of becoming “endangered species” in the workplace by 2017.
Seventy-nine percent of those surveyed said tape recorders will go the way of the dodo, followed by fax machines (71 percent), the Rolodex (58 percent) and “standard working hours” (57 percent). Instead, expect to see more tablet devices (55 percent), cloud storage (54 percent), flexible work hours (52 percent) and smartphones (52 percent).
Why the change?
Recorders and Rolodexes “are now embedded in the technology we use each and every day,” says Nicole Williams, connection director at LinkedIn. “They’re very transportable. It’s a part of your iPhone.
“You don’t have a big Rolodex anymore because you’re using an Outlook contact database,” she adds. “We don’t have these physical tools that encumber us.”
And if you’re someone who thrives on a 9-to-5 routine, expect to wilt in the 24/7 work culture that is rapidly replacing it. According to the survey: New technologies like smartphones, combined with insecurity about the economy, are creating an environment where employees think they must be reachable at all times — a feeling many of us are already all too familiar with.
“For competitive purposes, we feel we need to be available at all hours of the day and night,” Williams says. “People have access by virtue of our BlackBerry and our iPhone. People are able to communicate so quickly and so frequently that we inevitably take advantage of that.”
In exchange for perpetual access, many workers — particularly working parents — will expect flexibility from employers about office hours. Instead of punching in at 8 a.m. every morning, workers might ask to spend a morning or two working from home.
In addition to more mobile technology, office pros expect the workplace to become more “communal,” with teams working together at tables rather than individually in cubicles or corner offices.
“I think you’re going to see more communal spaces — especially where technology is part of the business,” Williams says. “And for almost any business — even more traditional businesses — you now have a social media team or a marketing team working more collaboratively on concepts.”
And with the rise of these communal office spaces, workers will expect their bosses to give them some time alone.
“We asked people, ‘What would you see as an office dream tool?’ A lot of responses were ‘privacy’ — a place to have a private conversation with a client, where co-workers aren’t overhearing. A place to sit down and reflect on an issue,” Williams says.
“We’re seeing the positive effects of this open work space. It’s costing employers less. It’s encouraging collaboration,” she adds. “But it’s impeding privacy and concentration, and a lot of the things people say are necessary to get their work done. You’re seeing some pushback.”
If privacy can’t be had, some blessed silence would be a nice substitute. Almost one in five said their dream office tool would be a mute button on their colleagues.