The fixed workplace era is coming to an end

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is likely to permanently change workspaces and provide more flexibility to workers in terms of space and time, according to a new report.

Commercial real estate services and investment firm CBRE’s annual report, Global Outlook 2030: Fluid Workspace, says technological advances including enhanced connectivity mean the era of a fixed workplace is coming to an end as workers take advantage of new choices and spaces that it says will improve their productivity and creativity, including their cars.

The report also says corporate headquarters are becoming decentralised as workers visit their base less frequently – although visits to HQ will precipitate intense and uninterrupted periods of working with colleagues during which certain projects must get completed.

Nicholas Maclean, Managing Director of CBRE for Middle East North Africa and Turkey, said: “To contend with the myriad of connectivity available in a 5G world, [the workplace] must be the best venue to connect with colleagues, experience brand and mission, and get work done.”

The report says employers will increasingly have to offer a menu of working locations that are flexible enough to meet the varied personal and professional needs that employees juggle.

It says offices will need to “create spaces that cultivate the creative output of high-skilled workers and make them feel valued and productive while they’re there.”

It states: “In effect, new spaces will appeal to workers because they’ll make them feel less like a guest and more like a member when moving between locations.”

Richard Barkham, global head of research, adds that work and life will become more blended. He states: “We’ll see a total integration of work, life and play into a single place – with countless options for individual personalisation.”

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