We want our offices back, but they need to change
Recently, a survey was conducted by the international real estate advisor Savills, it was sent to 65,000 clients during the lockdown period of Covid-19. The survey found that up to 89% of respondents believe that the physical office environment does remain a necessity for companies, but the office must change. The feedback explored how those working from home have learned to adapt and what the future impact will be on office space. Many responded believing there will be a long-term impact on the design and size of the workplace. For a lot of people, home-working has changed the need for an existing office space focusing on in-person collaboration, decreasing desk space allocation, and reducing occupational density.
Going forward, offices will need to increase their social hubs to support team working, face-to-face meetings, and events that promote shared learning, career development, and the growth of a company’s brand and culture. Trying to manage all these factors, however, including a surge in flexible and remote working, is predicted not to impact significantly, if at all, on the total demand for office space.
As we’ve seen happen already over the years, the office will continue to play a huge role in attracting and maintaining the future generation of talent. Just look at the 18-24-year-olds market who continue to display a clear preference for the office, with 25% still expecting not to spend time at home post-lockdown, down from 50%; the highest of any age category. Savills’ survey found that whilst the highest proportion of respondents (62%) currently work in towns or cities, future preferences could see this figure drop by 23%. In contrast, those who want to work in rural locations increased from 5% to 10%, whilst home working saw the largest increase, rising from 14% to 35%. Savills also found that length of commute directly correlated to people’s working from home experience, suggesting a potential shift towards a ‘hub & spoke’ model, with organisations retaining a city centre presence, whilst also utilising regional and local office hubs.
The data clearly indicates a shift towards a greater choice of where and how people will work and the further development of ‘third spaces’, such as serviced offices more proximate to, but outside of the home environment. As mentioned before, the experiences of remote working have been felt differently depending on your age and social group, but the general feeling has been that there needs to be a balance between home and work life, talking on video is no substitute for contact with colleagues and clients IRL. Mental and physical health is affected which in turn affects personal growth.
As companies look at returning to the workplace, office design will need to better reflect the future mobile workforce. 67% of the survey was prepared to share a desk once safe to do so, meaning open-plan workspaces would have to reduce and change into a more diverse office environment in order to sustain this way of working. Employees need to feel connected so small meeting rooms are prioritized along with team meeting spaces and social breakout areas.
The Covid-19 challenges have meant an immediate change in office design and the industry has had to think faster about its vision for a better workplace experience. I think we’ll be seeing more and more companies react in different ways that depend on their core business needs. Whichever way you look at it, this could be an innovative and creative time for office working as we know it.