The traditional office is being redefined, redesigned and realigned to keep pace with an evolving workforce and fast-paced technology-driven business landscape.
Global Workplace Analytics has identified that 20-25% of the US workforce in 2017 takes advantage of teleworking and 50% of jobs are compatible with teleworking to some degree. This identifies the potential for a 100% increase in teleworking in the US alone. Fortune 1000 companies globally recognize that mobile capabilities offer their workforce an opportunity to balance collaborative, in-office time with the flexibility of working in other locations (typically from home).
While employees and businesses are realizing the benefits of teleworking, companies are also paying attention to the office environment and providing a collaborative, engaging and productive space. The previous need for dedicated seats per person is being replaced with hoteling policies offering generic desks, cubes or offices to employees when in the office. Corporate offices are also dedicating large open collaboration spaces for more engaged discussions and a reflecting the expansion of a millennial driven office casual trend. “Google and Facebook have cutting-edge offices created by the young entrepreneurs who founded these companies, and they had no rules or standards to abide by, so they established their own,” says Barry Poskanzer, AIA, Partner, Poskanzer Skott Architects.
One common thread in office design trends is the focus on the employee. “Employee costs are the largest expense for any company, so making staff comfortable benefits the bottom line,” says Rick D’Amato, a Principal of architecture firm LPA Inc. Providing an engaging, collaborative, flexible yet structured environment offers employees the options they desire and businesses the productivity they are willing to invest in.