The Future of Work

The pandemic is responsible for changing the world in ways we could never have imagined. One of the most impactful changes was the massive shift of the American workforce to embrace remote work. Entering 2023, working from home at our remote jobs has become the norm for us. This change is having a significant effect on commercial real estate. The work-from-home (WFH) scenario, in its myriad variations, has been a common experience for us for over a year. While some thrived and resolved to “never go back to the old normal,” others encountered multiple difficulties and could not wait to return to their workplace.

As we slowly try to move from that ‘new normal’ into an older-slash-newer normal, it is helpful to look back and check what changed in our work practices during the pandemic. These changes have been numerous, accompanied by the relocation of workspaces from offices, factory floors, classrooms, and other organizational settings, into our homes.

Another portion of the population thinks working from
home is the future of work…

There is a significant number of professionals who want to return to office buildings and in-person interactions. According to a January Gallup survey of 4,000 U.S. adults, 39% of workers said they would return to their office if given a choice, up from 28% last July. This is the group of people who see value in working in an office separate from their homes. In Buffer.com’s 2019 State of Remote Report, 19% of remote workers called loneliness their biggest struggle with working from home, and 17% cited collaborating and/or communication. There are also concerns that the lack of serendipitous encounters with coworkers could stifle creativity and reduce team cohesion. Remote work has increased worker productivity but can lead to isolation and stress as the line between work and home blurs. Which in turn declines productivity and affects the company’s profits. Chicago-based law firm Schoenberg Finkel Beederman Bell Glazer has had staff return to work over the past few months. “We thrive on being together; we are a friendly collegial group,” said Adam Glazer, a managing partner of the 50-person firm. “And we are at our best when everyone is here and available and functioning together as a team.” Working from the office has its perks, the best perks being productivity and revenue generation through teamwork.

So, what is the future of work?

Transparency is key; Workers want to understand why they are being asked to return. Employers want to know why their employees are intent on staying home. With an open exchange of views, it should be possible to find a new normal that leaves everyone better off—providing the in- person interaction that helps teams bond and the flexibility that workers crave. So, rather than having an “everybody works in the office” policy or an “everybody works from home” policy, look for a hybrid of the two. For example, there could be A teams and B teams working remotely on different days and in the office on other days. Office real estate is not dying; it was disrupted during the pandemic. However, the office market is quickly heating up and experiencing sound revenue generation. By promoting hybrid work, employees will have flexibility and work-life balance. Employers can still save tons on operating costs as the footfall reduces, and the workforce is split up; this balance of work will drive up revenues and promote team building. Commercial real estate has just created a new need for Hybrid workplaces, where we are tailoring our office spaces across the globe to meet these new standards. So naturally, employers want to make their offices apropos for this evolved version of the new normal.

We call this the “Future of Work” – Not home, not work,
something else.

In the last three years, we spent time making homes our
offices. Will we spend the next three years making offices
our homes?

After NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate Women in Real Estate (WiRE) symposium, we asked panelist Mariana Circiumaru, Managing Director, Head of Construction Value-Add at BentallGreenOak, how we can embrace this new normal to improve revenue generation in the office sector in 2023.

Ms. Circiumaru inferred that working from home is here to stay. It’s the business challenge of our time. On the one hand, most CEOs recognize that employee connection and belonging were lost during the pandemic. But, on the other hand, most are also in an intense battle for talent and can’t afford to drive away their best.

Stay tuned for more in-depth conversations with Mariana Circiumaru, Managing Director, Head of Construction Value-Add at BentallGreenOak, and Shashank Nemichand, VP of Development and Construction at BentallGreenOak, in understanding the future of work and more about commercial real estate in a future issue.