As hybrid working continues to emerge as the norm in many companies, a new study by US firm CBRE, dated August 2024 and carried out in the USA, reveals how real estate strategies have evolved in 2024, and will continue to evolve to meet these new challenges.
So what can we learn from this study in just a few minutes?
The study's first striking figure is that almost 80% of organizations have a return-to-work policy in place (60% even wish to see their employees at least 3 days a week), but only 17% strictly apply these rules, illustrating a persistent gap between employer expectations and employee practice.
Very often, a lot of work has been done to design the "ideal charter", but once it has been put in place, HR and Work Environment teams have very little visibility of how employees actually use it.
This discrepancy is amplified when companies do not have a tool to obtain data on the actual practice of remote work by their teams.
The study also highlights a resumption of real estate expansions: 38% of companies plan to increase their space in 2024, compared with just 20% in 2023. This reversal marks the end of the downsizing initiated by the pandemic in the USA, signalling a gradual return to more dynamic workspace management.
This phenomenon is not unusual: the United States was a pioneer in the switch to "100% remote work" for many teams, particularly technical teams. However, it is this 100% remote work model that is currently in retreat across the Atlantic, giving way to a hybrid model that is tending to take hold over time. This hybrid model obviously requires more office space than a 100% remote model.
Technology and sustainability have been top of mind for several years now. In addition to artificial intelligence and net-zero emission targets, which are on the minds of 43% and 57% of respondents respectively, there are also concerns linked to the operation and attractiveness of spaces, in which technology must play a key role.
At the heart of our technological priorities are videoconferencing and meeting room equipment, as well as user experience solutions, enabling us to restore the attractiveness of the office, by giving employees visibility over "who comes when", and "what space is waiting for me at the office", and by enabling work environment teams to better understand the use of their spaces.
The trend towards shared office space continues, with a steady decline in the employee/office ratio (also knownas the "expansion ratio" or "flex ratio"). In 2024, only 40% of companies maintain a 1:1 ratio, and this figure is set to fall further over the next two years. Space-sharing has become an effective response to fluctuating office occupancy, promoting both efficiency and collaboration.
At the same time, demand for flexible office spaces (such as coworking spaces) continues to grow, with 58% of companies planning to increase the proportion of such spaces in their real estate portfolio. This trend reflects a growing need for flexibility in response to economic uncertainties and new work dynamics.
With "hybrid" working now firmly established in corporate habits, workspaces are continuing to evolve. More collaborative, more central, better organized thanks to technology and digital solutions, they continue to serve a dual purpose: to attract talent while offering a rational use of real estate.
Would you like to discuss these workplace strategy issues? Deskare offers a simple, intuitive solution that can be deployed rapidly, enabling you to organize both on-site presence and flex office, while giving employees visibility of their team's presence.
Let's talk: click on the button to request a demo!
.png)
.png)
