At CGI we pride ourselves on recruiting top talent.
There is a reason why the top 2% of industry performers are attracted to us. We understand the trends that set the future of office work and, as we do with our developments, we stay ahead of those trends.
Here are the trends we see right now that will define the way we work in the future:
#1: Flexibility in where employees want to work and office safety
As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many companies were able to pivot and keep their employees safely working from home. However, this is not a viable long-term solution as research has shown that only 12% of workers want to work from home full time. This has brought on the non-standard work model of flexible workspaces that employees are currently looking for. Companies staying ahead of the trend are investing in ways that employees can professionally distance while collaborating in-person. This is in addition to a much higher standard of sanitization and cleaning practices in common areas.
#2: A reimagined commute to work
Employees want to travel less for work, with an office closer to home. Flexible workspaces are uniquely equipped to support employees in this area. For us, it’s in the form of one HQ central to where most of our team lives, with several satellite offices in our key acquisition cities: New York, California and the Southeast. We also have communal office spaces set up in an unbelievably inviting atmosphere at some of our properties. Occasionally working from these also allows us to have eyes and ears on the front lines of our properties – sort of an Undercover Boss style.
#3: Offices won’t disappear – but will demand a fresh, re-imagined approach
Why do only 12% of workers want to work from home? It’s because you can’t feel culture through Zoom! People and organizations thrive on pride of culture. Culture at work allows for personal expression of values, professional identity and aspirations. It adds style to otherwise dull, routine tasks. Offices serve as a required place to go for relationship building and peer-reflection.
In the last decade the emergence of co-working spaces, communal office tables and open floor plans has taken large corporations by storm. We believe this shift will continue, with less separation, but more space for people to social distance, yet still collaborate. Offices of the future may look more like the Google campus than the windowed-offices and cubicles of the 19s.
Without questions the evolution of office work has been accelerated by the current pandemic. By listening to the wants and needs of employees, companies can attract top-level talent that might otherwise choose somewhere else that prioritizes and listens to their people
