Over the past 5 years, we have seen a seismic shift in the office landscape. The rise of hybrid policies has brought about an increased need for unassigned and activity-based spaces. These changes are redefining workplace culture and design. To gain a deeper understanding of these evolving trends, Haworth researchers recently conducted a global survey of 408 facility experts.
These are 6 key insights we derived from our data:
1) Hybrid Work Policies Have Stabilized
Our 2023 Global Hybrid study revealed that approximately 75% of organizations had implemented hybrid policies, with a norm of 3 days in the office and 2 days remote. In our current study, we found these same ratios. Our data suggests that organizations have largely settled into their hybrid policies—only 8% of organizations started their current hybrid policies after 2022. With the policies cemented, organizations are now focused on adapting their spaces to the new ways of working.
2) Space Changes Are Driven by People, Aesthetics, & Cost
When asked about the primary drivers for significant space changes, respondents cited 3 main factors:
- Cost/Real Estate Savings
- Workplace Alignment with Evolving Employee Needs
- Enhanced Aesthetics
While cost considerations are important, over 50% emphasized the need to adapt the workspace to better suit employee requirements. This highlights a shift beyond mere cost-cutting, with organizations recognizing the importance of accommodating flexible and hybrid workstyles.
3) Balancing Focus Work & Collaboration
When weighing the advantages and disadvantages of working in the office, versus remotely, respondents identified collaboration and connection as reasons to come to the office. Avoiding the commute, work-life balance, and focus were reasons to work from home. Our findings suggest that while offices effectively support collaborative work, they often lack sufficient accommodations for individual focus work. For these reasons, organizations are seeking balance across the floorplate to fulfill both group and individual needs.
4) Floorplans Are Reaching an Equilibrium
Organizations are now finding that equivalent ratios of individual to group, and assigned to unassigned workstations, are working for them. Prior to 2020, floorplans were more individual-work focused and heavily favored assigned workstations. Organizations are now finding that equivalent ratios or individual to group, and assigned to unassigned workspaces are working for them. This 50-50 split accommodates a wider range of workstyles and activities.
5) Acoustics Remain a Top Challenge
As organizations reduce their real estate footprint and increase workplace density, acoustic challenges have become increasingly prominent. This, combined with the growing prevalence of video calls in open areas, has resulted in louder office environments. In fact, respondents indicated that noise (acoustic issues) is the largest challenge facing their workplaces. In response to this issue, our survey indicated that over 70% of organizations are adding video call and focus rooms, while 50% have added multi-person acoustic pods—both offering solutions for noisy offices.
6) Work Experience Satisfaction Is Linked to Space Changes
The survey concluded with a simple question: Overall, how satisfied are your organization’s employees with their work experience? A significant difference emerged between organizations that had implemented major space changes in the past 3 years and those that had not. Among organizations that had made changes, 77% reported high employee satisfaction, compared to only 61% in organizations that had not. While this data reflects a correlation rather than a direct causal relationship, it suggests that employees are more satisfied when their workspaces are adapted to meet their evolving needs.
Haworth remains committed to monitoring workplace evolution and will continue to gather insights from both facility experts and employees to inform future workplace strategies.
