Wearing Corporate Suits, Flying Out To Clients, Taking Them Out For Dinner And Shows Will Be The New Rebellious Post-Pandemic Norm

Oftentimes, when people try to predict the future, they pontificate with certainty. Usually, they’re wrong. Things are not all black and white. There’s more grey than anything else. If you casually ask someone what they feel the future of work will look like, they’d probably talk about working from home, avoiding large crowds and continuing to shop online.

This may certainly happen. Scars don’t heal too swiftly. Years after the pandemic is in the rear-view mirror, there will be people who’ll conduct their business-life as we’re still in the thick of things or heading into a new iteration of the disease.

Looking back into history, there are always backlashes. The rigidity of the 1950s led to the counterculture hippie movement of the 1960s, which turned into a decadent decade in the 1970s. The ‘80s turned into a money-obsessed generation, characterized by popular television shows and movies, such as Dallas,Wall Street and the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

We may see something similar happening in the coming years. After spending over a year at home, wearing stained sweatpants and ripped graphic T-shirts, there will be a number of people who can’t wait to get outside and go into the office. They’re tired of looking and feeling like a slob. They’ll put on suits and corporate attire to make themselves feel good. It will make people feel as if the outbreak was just a bad dream. Now, we’re back to normal. It’s time to get serious again. The folks who are still on the Zoom calls wearing a nice shirt and hidden shorts and flip flops will take notice of their colleague wearing a sharp suit and tie. They’ll feel that they’ve become slackers and will plan to buy a new wardrobe.

Since you’ve been staring nonstop at computer screens and phones for 10 hours a day for almost a year, you’re going to ask your spouse and kids if they want to take a ride to the shopping mall. What used to be a commonplace occurrence, it will feel like a treat. Instead of fearing a visit to the Cheesecake Factory, your family will sit down for a nice sumptuous meal, reveling in the fact the waitstaff and customers aren’t wearing masks.

When you return home, a client sends an email asking for a zoom meeting. You’re all ready to say “yes,” but at the last moment, you fire back a note saying, “How about I fly out to meet you in Los Angeles?” You try to think of the last trip you went on and can’t remember, as it’s been so long. You tell your client, “I haven’t been 10 miles from my neighborhood in months and would love to see some new sites!’ Starved for human contact, the customer jumps at the offer and tells you to book a flight. They share the names of some trendy bars and nightclubs they’ll take you to. You ask them if they’d also like to take in a basketball game or see a band that you both like who’s in town for the week.

This trend will play out across the board. When there is a chance to go to a meeting, which you used to dread and hate with a passion, you’ll jump at the opportunity. “That guy” in the office who used to make you so angry because he hogged the spotlight and wouldn’t stop talking during meetings, will seem kind of nice and mellowed out. Your boss doesn’t act as mean and condescending as you remembered him to be. As you walk out of the conference room, it will feel nice to have some camaraderie. While walking down the hall, a co-worker you haven’t seen in forever pulls you aside and asks if you’d like to grab a beer because he has some juicy gossip to share with you.

Taking the bus then transferring to the train on the commute home will seem nice. The change of scenery feels good. You can’t wait to tell your partner about the wonderful day you had at the office.

Humans are social creatures. Although feeling strange at first, many people—but not everyone—will nervously look forward to going back to the way things were. Donning nice new clothes, heading out to the airport to meet customers face-to-face, schlepping into the office a couple of days a week, going out for lunch with the boss and co-workers and scoring tickets to a hot broadway show and fancy dinner to seal a deal will start to feel good and natural.