Following various studies and polls, a number of players in the US real estate market that focus on offices (CBRE, JLL, and Gallup) agree that managers and operators must offer flexible, amenity-rich offices to support the modern employee commute. Broadly speaking, we are all being called to do more with less space, and for many in the office space world, pods will prove part of the solution. Let’s consider the trends supporting this notion.
To begin with, there is the return-to-office (RTO) challenge, which has indeed persisted throughout the post-COVID years. An approximate half-occupancy rate has outlined the general shape of our new normal. One Envoy study finds that 80% of employers actually regretted their earliest RTO efforts, as they met with pushback. This explains why only 4% of companies are still focused on bringing their teams back, according to The Conference Board.
What are leaders prioritizing in place of bringing people back? Attracting and retaining talent. The key consideration here is: what matters to employees today is flexibility. An August 2023 FlexJobs poll found that 63% of workers would even trade higher pay for remote freedom. In this increasingly hybrid world, solutions such as work pods are offering functions that are well-tuned to the realities of remote work. Video pods such as the hushFree.S hybrid call booth, for instance, help to link and align on-site and at-home employees during virtual meetings and phone calls. Sound-insulated and encapsulating, these booths protect user concentration and privacy while buffering the office floor from undue noise.
For many firms, adapting to low occupancy rates also means downsizing. Cushman & Wakefield predicts 1 billion square feet of unutilized office space by 2030. With 75% of businesses planning to trim space this year, every retained square foot will be made more precious. Smartly using hallways, corners, and space under stairs, for example, will be critical. By optimizing with the right space-efficient solutions, companies can ensure their offices support social capacities, maintaining all human elements of hybrid work that make them profitable—both for employees, in terms of achievement and meaning, and employers, in terms of progress.
Pods are an intelligent answer to the challenges of these tighter office quarters. They are compact, using space economically, while being purely functional, such as with a booth like hushFree.S. For small team meetings, consider hushFree.M, the 4-person pod which is acoustically sound—noise-free and speech-private, rated Class A per ISO 23351. A booth like hushFree.M comfortably hosts four people in only 33 square feet of space.
Another trend in offices is the slow adoption of flexible space. This involves more than flexible leases, but flexible layouts and furniture pieces as well. With 43% of firms planning to take on more flexible space through 2025, interiors must naturally respond with more flexibility themselves. More and more, mobile, user-adjustable pieces will furnish the influx of changing spaces. Pods fit the flexibility bill, being mobile, freestanding structures. HushFree pods, in particular, come both with or without furniture, and are equipped with adjustable lighting and ventilation, letting users tweak their environment for the best ambiance for focusing on work. Simple employee-centric designs can help make the office a productive, enjoyable destination for hybrid workers.
Increasing demand for amenities is another aspect making the case for pods. Put plainly, buildings with apt amenities will win. With Gensler reporting that work-focused amenities have the greatest impact on employees, pods arise as a viable option for this trend too. As a final example, the large 4-6 person hushFree.L booth can be re-furnished and moved in step with developing conference or group-work requirements, supplying appropriate atmospheres of privacy and quiet (which can also be found in the full hushFree collection). Altogether, a line of Class A pods such as hushFree may very well usher in the next phase of the office’s essential evolution.
Catch the hushFree line of Class A office booths at NeoCon in Haworth and Thinkspace showrooms 312, 3rd Floor and 1099, 10th Floor, respectively.
Sources
- Envoy "Without accurate data, the physical workplace won’t survive"
- The Conference Board C-Suite Outlook 2024
- FlexJobs August 2023 Survey
- Cushman & Wakefield Obsolescence Equals Opportunity
- Robin The Office Space Report 2023
- JLL Future of Work Survey 2022
- Gensler U.S. WORKPLACE SURVEY 2019