While the office itself may not be dead, the way we once thought of it is. Offices have long been seen and designed to be a place where employees work for 40 hours each week, but now the needs of the workforce are transforming.
This has led companies to turn to the flexible office, which is typically seen as adaptable and agile in terms of leases and design. Although these are essential qualities moving forward, there are other changes happening, such as the inclusion of offices into other properties like multifamily and hospitality buildings.
For instance, Hilton offered a program to keep itself afloat throughout the pandemic that focused on providing office workers a place to focus outside of their home. Coined “WorkSpaces by Hilton,” the hotel’s rooms could be rented out as offices and provide users access to the hotel’s other amenities.
Jamie Hodari, CEO of flexible office operator Industrious, has had his own experience delving into the hospitality environment after his company partnered with the Wythe Hotel and Proper Hospitality to offer private workspaces.
“As more and more companies transition from having one monolithic headquarters to a more distributed workforce, the average American company’s workplace evolves into a series of options to pick between, on a day-by-day or week-by-week basis,” said Hodari. “Companies may need 60 different offices rather than simply one or two headquarters.”
The role of the office is changing, and it is up to companies to identify where the physical workspace fits into their daily operations, while balancing the new flexible nature of the overall workforce.
