3 Big Changes Coming To An Office Near You

Dylan Nolte/Unsplash

The pandemic and the remote work culture it has brought along is a thorny issue for office real estate. 

Across the world, demand for new office space has sunk to all time lows, and while recovery mode has been activated, real estate veterans feel 'back to pre-pandemic levels' of leasing are at least a couple of years away.

However, you don't have to wait that long to notice the big changes coming to the good old office. 

Here are the top 3:

1️⃣ Flexible Floor Plans Are In: Jump over acquisitions and leases and there's a push for more flexible workspaces within the office. Google is crafting team pods while Amazon is axing rows of desks in their offices to boost employee interaction.

This essentially means death to pre-pandemic open floor plans. With the all-new flexible workspace, companies are telling the world how they want employees to use their time when they return to the office - as a space for collaboration, not just heads-down work.

2️⃣ Health And Hygiene Are Priorities: While the number of desk rows and chai machines vary from firm to firm, one consideration is consistent across every company: the health and safety of the employee.

Vaccine protocols aside, investment in technologies or services that clean the office space are trending big time. Proper ventilation, natural lighting, and rigorous cleaning schedules are top incoming changes to support the health and wellness of occupiers, even beyond this pandemic.

3️⃣ Amenities And Socialising Space Is A Must: To woo employees back to the office building, companies are turning to more amenity-filled spaces. In fact, the most amenity-filled buildings on the market today are up to 54% higher in price than the rest of the market. 

Another draw of returning to the office is increased opportunities to socialize. Office spaces that offer socialising options are more sought after than the usual workspace with a dining hall and the famed water cooler. 

In One Sip

🔖 Expensive but covers the above? Deal. Companies are willing to foot the bill for such office spaces if it means their workforce is happy and doing its best work.