Did you know emails became a common form of communication in the office in the early 2000’s and was met with major pushback? Now it is something majority of offices can’t live without.

We take a look at the history of workplaces from the introduction of emails all the way to now, where AI is on our minds.

Emails are fairly new to the workplace. Prior to their rise in the early 2000s, many offices relied on the likes of  memos and fax machines to communicate with others.

Since then, so much has changed.

In the 2020s, we’re living the dream thanks to emails but also other inventions like chat channels, video calls and so much more which make communication faster and more efficient.

Of course, we can’t forget the introduction of AI. Even though it has  only been accessible for one or two years , it continues to grow rapidly in use.

Cathy Hendry, Managing Director at Strategic Pay says that what the workplace looked like 10 and 20 years ago is completely different to now.

“Everything from when we were using big computers, floppy disk to a lot of in-person meetings, makes you realise how much has changed in terms of how how much we do technology-based,” she says.

But it’s not just the introduction of emails and AI that has changed the way we work in 2024 – Covid-19 has also been a major player.

The pandemic has granted a lot more flexibility in where we work, where hybrid working and working from home has become an accepted norm  in today’s society.

“When I started in the early 2000s, if you were in the office you would be judged by the hours that you’re in and it wouldn’t be uncommon to have disciplinary meetings if you weren’t in the office by 8:30am,” adds Hendry.

Since the pandemic, Hendry says it has completely shaken up the workforce and to this day, employees and employers are still grappling with the changes it has put forward.

Read more: Quiet quitting and lazy girl jobs: the Gen Z work trends to look out for

Many employees are finding it hard to justify coming into the office five days a week due to numerous factors – travel, childcare etc. This could potentially accelerate how organisations navigate the traditional work model, including moving towards a four-day work week.

Especially in Auckland, Hendry says that productivity is high with people working from home, especially when they remove the commute or if they live further away from the CBD because of affordability.

“Who would’ve thought that something like that would’ve accelerated and pushed us over into that flexible working from anywhere,” she says.

But at the same time, there is a potential to go back to the working conditions pre-Covid.

Especially with trends like quiet quitting very popular in America, described as putting the minimum amount of effort and not wanting to go the extra mile for an employer, the workplace can always move backward.

As mentioned above, another major player in the changing workplace is the introduction of AI, especially among the younger generation now entering the workforce who are already adopters of the technology.

Even if companies are not implementing AI on a widescale, Hendry says many employees are already using it to write emails, prompt ideas, plan strategies and so much more.

For companies who are already using it, AI is used to automate the “monotonous and boring” jobs so people can work on high value tasks.

But this change has disrupted the workforce dramatically, with Hendry talking about how many admin and client-facing jobs are being overtaken by AI and has left these people in the dust.

Other changes in the mix of the workplace is the changing demographics such as more females in leadership and faster pay increases.

Looking into the future, Hendry says there is only one takeaway.

“Things will just move way faster, information is quicker. So, I think decisions get made quicker… We’re all going to have to become like ‘super change specialists’ and be really open to just flipping the script,” she says.

“We’re going to have to be really agile, really open to change and quick to pivot. And we’ve seen that with AI, just how quickly things change.”