According to a CBRE survey, 87% of large U.S. companies with 10,000 or more employees say they will be adopting hybrid work. This wide-scale shift to hybrid work will have manifold implications for the workplace — and how companies and people leverage those workplaces to drive business outcomes and advance their careers.
Here are three key ways hybrid work is already transforming our U.S. workplaces — and how companies think about their real estate portfolios.
- A hybrid workplace will need to be a destination that attracts employees. We call this the “consumerization” of the workplace, whereby organizations will reimagine their workplace to be a magnet, or destination, that competes for people’s attendance, much like retail and hospitality venues appeal to consumers today.
- Hybrid companies will use less office space — but they’ll see greater utilization of that space. This may mean some organizations lease less space directly to accommodate an increasingly virtual workforce and embrace flexible space or co-working to meet peak occupancy demands.
- Companies that successfully adopt hybrid work will be poised to better retain talent. That makes it critically important for companies to meet their employees where they are — both in terms of offering flexibility to work outside the office at least part of the time and giving them attractive destinations to engage with their colleagues and teams.