The Last Stand of the Corporate Peacock

Peacocking, - São Jorge Castle, Lisbon, Portugal – Photo by Andrew Spence Not being able to get together in person is a pure negative. Reed Hastings – Netflix Co-founder The corporate peacock is alive and well. Feathers fluffed. Chest puffed. Strutting across near-empty floors in a grand display of status and control. Not because it makes work better — but because it once did. As Workforce Futurist merges with Work3, it feels fitting to mark this moment with a short obituary of sorts — not for the office itself, but for the behaviours and status games that once dominated it. This is the final flutter of the Corporate Peacock: the leader who confuses presence with performance. High-profile employers have made the klaxon call back to the office for workers, with company-wide mandates, including Amazon, Uber, Twitter, Starbucks, Meta, Google, Goldman Sachs. They’re billed as productivity plays. But scratch the surface, and it’s more about sunk costs, status signals, and old habits t ... Read full article.