The Start of a New Workplace Era Welcome to the era of employee respect

For the past few years, there has been a noticeable shift in work culture after the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic introduced the workforce to alternative ways of working and quickly challenged the traditionally upheld 9-5 five-day workweek. The pandemic acted as a type of a catalyst for change as workers were forced to turn their office in for a living room couch as remote work became the new norm. Working from home raised the need for people to completely reevaluate their workplace needs and most importantly, work-life balance. This happened on the heels of the booming wellness trend that hit its prime during the lockdown and as a result, people had space and support to doubt the industry-set workplace norm and ask, perhaps for the first time “What is a good work arrangement for me?”

While there are still ways to go before some of these big ideas are implemented, it is clear that workplace culture is in a pivotal point of change where the well-being of its employees is edging out toxic workplace practices. We can see the impact of this across industries as companies are implementing better mental health resources, and flexible working options and going as far as instituting penalties for employers who violate employees' boundaries by contacting them after hours. This development is making its way to transform even the most stubbornly rooted institutions such as the fashion industry, which is notoriously known for its ridiculously high expectations and exploitative nature. There was a time when working in a fashion meant either working 25/7 or not working at all. The common understanding was that if you didn’t lose 5 kilos and half of your hair from stress, you were simply not working hard enough. The fact that in less than five years public opinion has turned on the fashion industry and is now openly calling it out on its toxic work culture, speaks volumes.

However, as stated above, the fashion industry is not immune to the changing climate. In fact, back in 2021, the fashion label Desigual was one of the first companies to experiment with a four-day workweek. Desigual chief executive Alberto Ojinaga gave a quote to BoF explaining the reasoning behind this initiative by stating the following: «We realized that a four-day workweek is not only a good thing for our people to make them happier and maybe even perform better, but also that we will become much more attractive in order to retain talent and attract external talent.» This demonstrates firsthand just how drastically the work culture of today is influenced by employee demand and it will continue to change more in this direction, come next year. Because if one thing is sure, it’s that we are not returning back to the norm that once was. Even now as the pandemic restrictions are passing, the workers are not budging as we enter into a new era of workplace culture.