Fortune Interview: CEO Kate Duchene Calls for ‘Radical Flexibility’

With Memorial Day now behind us, Summer 2021 has officially begun. But it will likely be a season like no other in recent memory. On one hand, mass vaccinations are making return-to-office work a viable option for the first time in over a year. On the other hand, the pace and pressures of the last months have caused many to question what their immediate priorities should be as a new season begins.

Fortune Magazine correspondent S. Mitra Kalita writes that maybe it’s time for a real break this summer. “As we return to old ways, here’s a plea: Let’s not,” she says. “Slow down, ask less of each other, and, perhaps if you can, take some real time off.”

Interviewed for the article, RGP CEO Kate Duchene agrees: “The reality is that work-life balance has given way to work-life blending over the past 15 months, and many of us need time away.” She adds that “radical flexibility in planning return-to-work scenarios this summer” is needed more than ever as companies navigate the coming “now of work,” which will likely be a hybrid of in-person and work-from-home.