The future of work at ETH

What will the future of work look like? ETH Zurich has been exploring this topic increasingly since the pandemic years. In autumn 2022, the Office of the Vice President for Personnel Development and Leadership (VPPL) conducted a survey and collected a broad range of additional input to find out how ETH employees imagine the future of work (see the internal news article of 19. June 2023). The survey results were then incorporated into a position paper, which is now available to all ETH members. The paper shows that the topic of the future of work combines a variety of themes:

All of these themes shape the way we work today and in the future¡ªand feed directly into the goals that the Executive Board has defined for the future of work. "With `the future of work`, the Executive Board wants to continue to nurture an environment in which all ETH employees can perform at their best," explains Julia Dannath, Vice President for Personnel Development and Leadership, as she outlines the project. "In doing so, it is important to us to enable employees to have the highest possible degree of autonomy."

To support this endeavour, lifelong learning has been defined as a goal, for example, so that ETH employees can deal with current and future challenges in the best possible way. Overall, the aim is to continue to create a trusting and autonomous working environment in which, for example, ambitious goals and well-being go hand in hand. (An overview of all the goals can be found on the future of work website).

Combining the strengths of two worlds

The future of work project encompasses a wide range of topics and does not focus exclusively on the - albeit understandable - question of how working from home should be regulated at ETH in the future. Nevertheless, the topic of flexible and remote working is likely to remain particularly relevant for many employees, for example, to enable a better work-life balance. In addition, working remotely can help ETH as an institution and employer to utilise the available space as sustainably and efficiently as possible. "However, a uniform solution for the entire university is not very expedient in this area," says Julia Dannath. This is because the needs, wishes and requirements of the various departments and central bodies are too different.

And still, according to Julia Dannath, one principle applies to all departments and teams at ETH: "Our goal as an internationally renowned university and progressive employer is to combine remote working with personal interactions on site to be able to utilise the strengths of both worlds." After all, Julia Dannath continues, face-to-face interaction is particularly important for employees of on-campus universities such as ETH to fulfil their core tasks in teaching, research, knowledge transfer and administration. At the same time, however, the Executive Board is aware that flexible forms of working can contribute a great deal to the productivity, creativity, motivation and satisfaction of employees.

Supervisors have an obligation

The Executive Board sees it as the responsibility of supervisors to ensure that the advantages of personal exchange can be successfully combined with remote work in everyday working life. "ETH views remote work as an opportunity. Therefore, the Executive Board expects supervisors to facilitate this where it is feasible and makes sense, while safeguarding ETH's core tasks and aligning with the organisational context," emphasises Julia Dannath. At the same time, complete remote work is not endorsed by the Executive Board, as it hinders personal interaction.

Measures and recommendations

One thing is certain: the path to the future of work will bring about change. These tools are now available to support both employees and supervisors along the way:

• The newly designed website provides comprehensive information and offers of support, as well as the position paper on the future of work.
• A catalogue of guiding questions helps employees and supervisors to find out whether flexible and remote working is feasible in their case. 
• Recommendations highlight how employees and supervisors can play a constructive role in shaping their future of work and contributing to a positive work culture.
• A newly developed workshop concept enables teams to work independently on key topics relating to the future of work and to discuss the aspects of "collaboration", " goal attainment" and "team cohesion and well-being".

"Introducing and living new ways of working is not always easy," Julia Dannath is aware. "Moving into the future of work requires trust, openness, consideration and a strong orientation towards teamwork. I am convinced, however, that together as an ETH community we are on the right path and can successfully shape the way we work."