Source:
https://www.podbean.com/eau/pb-jy99u-14078f0
What’s the latest in one of our favorite topics, the future of work? Within corporate America, we are seeing a shift toward calling employees back into the office either on a full-time or hybrid basis. And then there’s the workforce itself. Some people like working remotely or on a hybrid basis. And what about the work itself? Are there opportunities for solo PR pros? You bet. Listen and get inspired.
Transcript
The Future of WorkThat Solo Life Episode #199
Michelle Kane (00:02):
Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane of VoiceMatters, and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi, Karen. It's another episode, another week.
Karen Swim, APR (00:20):
Yes. Hello Michelle. How are you doing this week?
Michelle Kane (00:24):
I'm well, I'm well as, as you're listening to this it is May of 2023 and things are popping all of a sudden. It's,
Karen Swim, APR (00:34):
Yes.
Michelle Kane (00:34):
I think with the, I don't know, event season’s coming, clients are just kind of shaking off the winter doldrums, and it's, it's not a bad place to be at the moment. How about you?
Karen Swim, APR (00:47):
Same. Lots of activities and lots of invitations, business and personal, but it's really, you know, it's an interesting time because we are still in this major period of change. And, you know, the economy is crazy, right? Like the numbers don't match the mood. Like, it's weird that inflation's declining, but when you look at those numbers, you're like, but really, is it?
Michelle Kane (01:21):
Yeah. I love that you said that.
Karen Swim, APR (01:24):
Yeah. Isn't really, because things still seem awfully high to me. And the Fed keeps raising interest rates and, and although there's a lot of activity, it also still feels very sluggish. Like things are just slow moving.
Michelle Kane (01:41):
Yes. Yeah. And it's so weird. It is weird. And we could probably do a whole episode on that, because I'm thinking too, there are the numbers, there's the reality out there, and then there's, like you said, the mood, and it's like, is the mood coming from what we're hearing of everything being bad, bad, bad. It's like, well, it's watchful. It may be bad, it may not be great. And I think once we get this whole debt ceiling, blah, blah, behind us, a lot of us will exhale.
Karen Swim, APR (02:08):
It's like a global mismatch in every area of life, you know, like this. But it's not really warm.
Michelle Kane (02:15):
We're all like, weird socks, <laugh>,
Karen Swim, APR (02:19):
But the ground is still dry, like <laugh>, I don't know. Like, things are happening and they're not producing the results that we're accustomed to. So it's just almost like living in two dimensions.
Michelle Kane (02:34):
Speaking of, yeah.
Karen Swim, APR (02:35):
<Laugh> dimensions.
Michelle Kane (02:37):
So, we wanted to touch on the future of work. We discuss that term about in many of our episodes, but just thinking about, you know, with people being called back to their offices and employers, some employers not really aligning with the realities out there of how people function best in a company. And also, of course, seeing as we are solos, how do we fit into all of that, and how can some of what is happening really work to our advantage? Just a small topic, no big deal, but
Karen Swim, APR (03:21):
<Laugh> it is. Yeah. And future work is one of my favorite things to, yeah. Out in the world. I, I love this topic. Every aspect of it as it applies to corporations that applies to employees and also to solos. This is just one of the things that I love to talk about. And so the future of work landscape is, it's interesting because we have so many structural shifts in the way that we think about work and what constitutes work in the way that days are structured, in the way that jobs are structured, in the way that, you know, in the location, the physical location of where work gets done. And so we have this, of course, this divide with work that can technically be done from anywhere, and then work that really is location dependent. So for example, you can't at this point have, you know, doctors doing everything remotely.
Although there's a subset of services that can be delivered virtually or outside of a physician's office or a hospital. You have concierge doctors that are bringing clinics to you. You have a direct primary care that is that same model where rather than you going to a location, but you still need hospitals, you still need ERs, you need places where people can go. We're seeing lots of things go to e-commerce, but then people still need some places where they can physically touch or try on things. And so it's just a really interesting time. But as we talk about some companies pulling back on their work from home policies and forcing a return to offi
