Simon South

News about the rise of the virtual workplace continues to crop up in the media. Last week the Globe and Mail published an article describing the trend of startup companies forgoing office space and relying instead on online collaboration tools to bring together a group of remote co-workers. The author profiles a number of startups that successfully followed this model and notes:

Going “officeless”—or nearly so—is a sea change in business attitudes. It’s driven by technological and cultural shifts as the Web-literate Generations X and Y become the driving force behind entrepreneurship. The trend is so advanced that architectural experts think it will even alter the way future corporate spaces are designed, as office-free companies vault into the ranks of the Fortune 500.

The article covers the generational angle well, citing research that suggests office buildings are gradually becoming obsolete as Generation-Y workers hate the idea of commuting and don’t place the same importance on having a physical office as previous generations did. (This makes sense to me. When your entire social life already exists online, the idea of shutting down the computer and driving to an office building to speak with co-workers must seem faintly absurd.) It’s not just about building a better business by lowering costs and raising productivity; the shift to a virtual workplace is occurring in part simply because this is how younger people naturally get things done.

Elsewhere, Seth Godin argued on his blog that it’s time to finally say goodbye to the office. In his words: “I think in ten years the TV show ‘the Office’ will be seen as a quaint antique.”