Nearly 90% of U.S. companies and design firms plan to increase their investment in productivity-enabling technologies such as voice-activation and video conferencing by 2015.
According to the survey results from The Workplace of the Future, administered by the office furniture company Teknion, businesses are attracting new knowledge workers by offering flexible workplace options (41%) and leading-edge technology (39%).
“Emerging technologies are enabling new levels of workplace optimization and utilization, as well as boosting productivity to levels never before seen in global organizations,” says Peter Miscovich, managing director, corporate solutions, Jones Lang LaSalle.
With workplace mobility reducing annual occupancy expenses by as much as 30% per year, companies are squeezing even more savings by repurposing office space.
Miscovich predicts that by 2015, the standard of square feet allocated per employee will drop from a spacious 200 to 50-100 square feet per person.
Businesses are also redefining the work environment with:
- More open, collaborative workspaces with fewer individual offices (77%)
- Densification of individual workspaces (62%)
- Reduced square footage footprint through disposition (54%)
- Increased number of employees working remotely (46%)
- Mobile programs that include desk-sharing, hoteling, and co-working spaces (31%).
“We are no longer designing environments but the experience,” says Kay Sargent, vice president of architecture, design, and workplace strategies at Teknion. “If we come to the office to engage others, then the space must enable that interaction.”