How can organizations empower their new hybrid workforce? By tailoring the work environment to people’s individualized needs.

Last year the coronavirus thrust tens of millions of office employees into remote work. This seismic shift in how we work proved once and for all that work is not a place we go to. It’s something we do.

Buildings with clean air, plenty of natural sunlight, and other tenets of good health have become increasingly important for companies bidding to pull people back into the office.
But new research from MIT shows that healthy buildings provide landlords with a greater return on investment, too.

In June of last year, an estimated 42% of the U.S. labor force was working from home full time—an experience that has fundamentally changed the nation’s views on where and how we work best. Determining how to integrate these learnings into future real estate decisions will be a difficult task, especially considering all of the challenges that site selection teams already face.
“Figuring out who will work from home and who will require actual office space, which offices to prune and which to keep, how they will be configured and shared, and precisely where they should be sited,” professor Richard Florida wrote in the Harvard Business Review (HBR) last month, “requires more strategic thought, analysis, and planning than ever.”

“In the wake of monumental change, there’s never been a better time to challenge the familiar. To explore fresh ideas for how to make the workplace more adaptable and respond with flexible solutions that allow people to work in their own unique way. Work and workplace design are transforming – and we’re thrilled to be paving the way.”

A Balanced Approach for Mobile and On-Site

Giving People the Freedom of Choice

Promoting Healthy Workplace Practices

De-Densified & Flexible Space

Since the pandemic began, we’ve seen a fundamental shift in how and where people are working. This summer, through our Global Workplace Surveys, we surveyed nearly 10,000 office workers from the U.S., the U.K., France, and Australia (Australia report is forthcoming) to ask workers about their views on a post-pandemic future. Across these four countries, workers’ behaviors are starting to shift as they realize the benefits of remote work. Our findings uncovered some differences, but also some universal truths: most office workers want a hybrid model, and the office is still the best place to connect, collaborate, and socialize.