New Concept Aims To Transition Workers Back Into The Office

Real estate company Cushman & Wakefield is getting a headstart in helping people transition back into normal work life by helping 10,000 organizations in China move one million people back to work using its Six Feet Office concept.

Through the combination of medical advice and learnings gathered in China, Cushman & Wakefield has developed this working laboratory and showroom that encourages better hygiene and abides by social distancing guidelines. This is accomplished using appropriately spaced desks, as well as visual signals like arrows on the floor that encourage one-way traffic to help prevent the spread of any illness.

The company is also installing beacons in its offices that help track the movements of staff via their phones and could have the potential to audibly alert someone if they have broken the six-foot barrier.

Still, despite all these seemingly strict guidelines, it may not be enough to prevent the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19. The virus lives in the air for multiple hours and on surfaces for several days. These restrictions likely do not accommodate humans being in a poorly ventilated office together for eight hours at a time.

“I think what we’re going to see, which is really interesting, is we have now experienced a work-life integration which will change our perspectives and expectations of how we work in the future,” said Despina Katsikakis, head of Occupier Business Performance at Cushman & Wakefield. “I think as human beings, we’ll still want to have connections. When we’re in the office, we’ll want to be in a safe environment.”