# The 21st Century Office Paradox By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2024-09-28 Each generation faces its unique forms of challenges. Technology enables change. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the rate of change associated with virtual work. For owners and executives, the adoption of virtual work went too far too fast. There is now a retreat to more traditional forms of work. The labor paradox of the 21st century is when companies develop or want to use these technological advancements but want to do so using traditional employment methods. It is difficult to praise the value of 21st-century technology while subjecting one’s workforce to 19th-century labor relations. Well, difficult might be overstating it. It is easy. Those in charge will direct it. Many, if not almost all, of those directed this way will comply. It is more to the point to say that such a direction pierces the veil of obfuscation and reveals the true focus of those in power. For all the talk about efficiency, those with power care about control. Virtual work reduces control. Why else would those in power rent or buy unneeded office space and pay the expense to cool and heat it, resulting in a lower overall productivity level? The adoption of technological advancements within an archaic work structure is a paradox. If the workforce fails to adopt the new technology, maybe it is because the organizational bureaucracy stifles any incentive to do so. #### Related Items [[Remote Work]] [[Work]] [[Paradox]] [[Organization]] [[Power]] [[Executives]] [[Technology]] [[Control]]