US companies are reshaping their offices for hybrid work
Most companies in the United States are developing long-term plans to expand or contract their office spaces to accommodate returning employees and the shift to hybrid work.
In a survey conducted by commercial real estate services and investment firm CBRE, 39% of companies said that they are expanding their portfolios over the next three years as they welcome their staff back to their offices.
Conversely, 52% of survey respondents want to reduce their office spaces over the next three years to eliminate excess space caused by remote working.
Only nine per cent said that they are maintaining the same office portfolios for the next three years.
CBRE Global President of Advisory & Transaction Services Manish Kashyap said that although companies are moving forward on their real estate plans, “we need to keep in mind that these types of changes take time to unfold.”
Kashyap added that employers still need to study their new work patterns and experiment with various ways to support productivity and employee satisfaction in their workplaces.
One of the primary ways companies are updating their office portfolios to quickly react to changing work practices is by incorporating more “flex spaces.”
Fifty-one percent of companies surveyed said that they are expecting flex spaces to account for a significant portion of their office portfolios within the next two years.
