Lisa Yu, CEO of OfficeBook, examines how work is changing us. She cites data on email overload and constant phone checking, then walks through tools reshaping how we work: remote surgery via AR, distributed teams enabled by 5G, and services for digital nomads. She introduces Desk Search, a new product for flexible workspaces.
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And as you embark on this journey, also thinking about how is work affecting us? So I wanted to give you some stats and some ways to think about how do you maintain that balance. So these are the facts. 2/3 of organizations tell us that employees are overwhelmed, just overwhelmed. overworked, working too much. Compared to other countries, US spends 25% of their workday answering emails. I don't know about you, but that's not the best use of our time. We want to be producing, building something, not just responding. And people are looking at phones 8 billion times a day. The average Mobile phone user checks their device 150 times a day. So we're increasingly having a very distracted workforce. And 60% check it every hour. You know, all those Snapchats just coming through. So they're just checking it on the hour every day. And average vacation time has dropped from 20.3 days to 16.2 days just in the last 20 years. So that's a drastic change. I think people are just feeling like they can't separate, they can't disconnect. And the average US worker works 47 hours, and 40% works— 49% works over 50 hours a week, and 20% of people work 60 hours or more a week. And that's probably all of us in this room. So I also wanted to talk about the future of working anywhere. You know, I think that, you know, distributed teams and remote working is becoming more and more possible. So here's some examples. You know, Ilana Cotton, she's the head of computing at Samsung. She believes that we will soon be working from anywhere, and that's enabled by AR and VR technology. artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the Internet of Things. And 5G will enable this unimaginable freedom to connect remotely from anywhere. So here are some examples. These future technologies can empower doctors to perform surgeries from afar, you know, using virtual reality. They can kind of tune in and just do a remote operation. Architects can use AI and augmented reality to render buildings on flat surfaces. They can just literally just show you a whole 3D demo of what a building or what an interior space would look like. And you're also starting to see 24/7 health monitoring with your Fitbits and your IoT devices and your smart devices, you can track heart rate and muscle activity, respiration, all of that. And really, all of this will enable flexibility in both our work and our personal lives. And so you'll see that there's an ease of working remotely and that there'll be continuous connectivity just wherever you go. You'll always be connected. And there's been a rise of productivity apps, everything from having your food delivered to your doorstep to having your groceries delivered to your doorstep to having everything under the sun delivered to your doorsteps. But also productivity apps as you're working, connecting teams, project management, development, organizing tasks. And really having that intelligence to remind you when things are due. So you're seeing this rise of apps that really helps to streamline the rest of your life. So finding your work lifestyle, as you embark on this journey, really think about, are you a team builder? Are you a solo entrepreneur? And those paths will kind of help dictate some of the tools and some of the connections that you'll make. So as a startup founder and entrepreneur building teams, there are some useful tools that can help you get started. LegalZoom, that helps you with incorporation documents and legal services. You have Envoy. as a visitor management tool. They manage the people that come in and out of your offices. You have Gusto that will take care of your HR and all of your payroll services. And then you have OpsWorks that helps you with your IT and operations. And obviously Officebook, my company, we're the Airbnb for offices. We can help you find workspace, so everything from desks to private offices, and we unlock flexible lease terms that scale to your business. So as you grow, you can upgrade your space, and we can find you a bigger space on a short-term basis until you're ready for that long-term lease. And for the digital nomad, there are plenty of Services out there for you. Remote OK is a site where you can find remote work or post remote jobs. There's Nomad List. They compare all of the different cities that you can work in and kind of the pricing, like what's the cost of living in Bali versus Thailand, or if you wanted to work in Spain versus Italy, you know, what are the different things that you can connect to? And it kind of helps you get started as you build your community remotely. Roam, there's a couple of services where you can stay remotely in different countries. And Travel Bank, you can keep track of all your travel and business expensing. So that's a tool for you to track how much you're spending for work purposes. And Desk Search, That's a new product that we're launching for the solo entrepreneur, and where you can book workspaces on demand. So wherever you go, you can find a desk at a coworking space or a shared space. So the future of work. The future of work, I believe, is automated, distributed, but also opportunistic. As some of those repetitive tasks and services, as those tasks and jobs goes away, we are starting to welcome more innovative and creative solutions. So you guys will be the future of those people who will be building this future of work as opportunistic. And as my gift to you, I wanted to offer everyone in this class a free workday. So if you go to signup.desksurge.co, that will give you a pass for a free day at a coworking space in one of our major locations. We have San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Miami. But we'll also be expanding to Texas and all around the world soon. So that's my gift to you. Thank you. Yes. And just wanted to say, so excited for you guys as you embark on your journey. I hope that these tools will be helpful, and I hope that as you build your companies, that you'll be creating jobs and stimulating the economy, but also that you'll feel this personal reward, that you'll find your passion and your motivations in being able to build something that changes the world. So congratulations, and thank you so much. Thank you.
