Today, June 15, after more than a year of restrictions, California is rolling back many of the rules put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that means a big shift for many businesses.
For this milestone good-news day, CSQ reached out to our community of CSQ NextGen 10 honorees to see how they are approaching work now, and how the pandemic altered where and how they work. Specifically, we asked:
“California is scheduled to reopen on June 15. Will you and your employees be going back to your offices? Working remotely? Some hybrid of the two?”
Here’s what some of the NextGens said:
Shay Bolton, Managing Director, Savills North America
Everyone is eager and ready to get back to the office and see one another. We have been missing that exemplary level of collaboration and culture that is challenging to replicate remotely. Some individuals will have the option to work from home on occasion, but the goal is to have everyone back by midsummer. We will have guiding principles in place to maintain safety and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Personally, I can’t wait to reestablish human interaction!
Brian De Lowe, President and Co-Founder, Proper Hospitality
In mid-July, our Proper Hospitality team will return to our Santa Monica office, but we’ll continue to offer a flexible, hybrid model that allows team members to work from home when it makes sense for their schedules. With our new DTLA Proper opening this July and, now, several properties on L.A.’s Westside, including Santa Monica Proper and Hotel June, our team is often on the move, so we want to allow the option to work remotely, while still creating time for us to be together in the same space.
Patrick Horsman, Managing Partner, Horsman Holdings
We are working from home and not planning on going back to the office. We have also relocated to Puerto Rico.
Watson Mere, Artist, Art of Mere (New York City)
With New York City planning to reopen on July , we’re implementing a hybrid of returning to the office and working remotely. When it comes to viewings at galleries, art events, and meeting with collectors we will act accordingly to ensure the safety of each physical encounter. However, the pandemic has forced us to be more innovative with creating virtual spaces, providing new ways to experience the art and interacting with the audience. We’ve found some successes with these virtual events, particularly internationally, and plan on developing this format as a new branch of our business.
Matthew J. Nordgren, CEO and Managing Partner, Arcadian Capital
As a firm focused on an industry that was deemed “essential” early on in the pandemic, we haven’t had a day off work throughout. We felt very fortunate to have the opportunity to build and serve our industry during a time where so many were less fortunate. We will work remotely and in office as need be post-June 15, just as we have been for the last year and a half. Dedicated to receiving all the blessings that have been coming our way and excited about the responsibility it comes with to make an impact.
Yair Riemer, CEO, Intoo
We’re fortunate that about half of our team was remote prior to the pandemic, so we already had built-in processes and technology for collaboration and productivity virtually, but we did have a significant presence with an in-person HQ in Los Angeles and an office in Boston. I’m a pretty strong believer that serendipitous encounters are critical to innovation and that for highly creative and collaborative roles, a hybrid model is the best solution going forward, which is similar to what Intoo will adopt. We will reduce our office footprint but replace that investment with flexible and shared workspaces for trainings, team meetings, onboarding new employees, clients, and events. We surveyed our employees and the flexibility (commute times can be quite difficult in L.A.!) that this model provides is an extremely strong and attractive benefit for us moving forward.
Joshua Schuster, Managing Principal, Silverback Development
Right now we’re nomadic real estate developers. We will try and reopen toward the end of the summer and definitely after Labor Day. The intention is to start slowly acclimating to the commute/office environment. COVID was a sudden stop to our lives and that abrupt change caused confusion, anxiety, and in some cases depression. Now that most of the world has adapted to the change in work environments, an abrupt change back could have the same effect many of us suffered through during the spring of 2020.
Want more insight from our NextGen alumni? Read all of their thoughts here.
Featured image credit: Photo courtesy Shutterstock.
