By some measures, the office sector seems to have improved some, according to a new report from Colliers. However, questions remain, and arise, about where the market might be headed

Last year closed out with some positive news, according to Colliers. For example, the Q1 2022 office vacancy rate stands at 14.8%, down from 14.9% in the fourth quarter of 2021. The amount of sublease space has fallen to 199.7 million square feet, from 208.8 million square feet in 2021’s second quarter. Net absorption was up nationally at the end of 2021 to nine million square feet, versus 3.2 million square feet in the third quarter of 2021. “This represents a significant turnaround from the cumulative 153 million square feet of negative absorption seen between Q2 2020 and Q2 2021,” said the report.

PwC, a global consulting firm with its American headquarters in New York City, has told 40,000 of its United States employees that they can work remotely forever. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, a white-shoe law firm with about 300 lawyers in New York, is allowing its staff to live anywhere in the country.

Verizon, which is headquartered in New York, has started permitting hybrid employees to come to the office as many, or as few, days a week as they want.

The list of companies permanently changing the way they work keeps growing longer, making the five-day-a-week trek into Manhattan an increasingly fading corporate practice — with enormous consequences for New York, whose economy is especially dependent on filling its forests of office towers.

In a new survey of 1,491 executives across different industries around the world, CEOs and other C-suite leaders said that sustainability was a priority. But 58% also admitted that their companies were guilty of greenwashing; among leaders in the U.S., that figure rose to 68%. And two-thirds of executives globally questioned whether their company’s sustainability efforts were genuine.

The anonymous survey, conducted by the Harris Poll for Google Cloud with executives primarily at companies with more than 500 employees, has mixed messages: 80% of executives gave their companies an “above-average” rating for environmental sustainability. The majority of leaders both at large corporations and startups said that sustainability is a priority for them; 93% said that they’d be willing to tie their compensation to ESG (environmental, social, and governance) goals, or already do. But 65% said that while they wanted to make progress on sustainability efforts, they didn’t actually know how to do that.

Sometimes, working fewer hours means you can get more done.

A proposed rule from The Securities and Exchange Commissions would require companies to disclose their annual greenhouse gas emissions and their businesses’ climate risks.

Duane Morris plans to cut office space by more than a fifth in five years, as smaller partner suites, shared desks and remote work offer major cost savings.

Allwork.Space provides some tips for employers to create work environments for Gen Z employees to thrive based on results from a study.

In the barrage of return-to-work news coverage, Kastle System card swipe data — which measures the percentage of employees entering the office versus pre-pandemic levels — has widely been viewed as the throbbing pulse of recovery.

And in the last few months, the patient has shown new signs of life, said Kastle Systems Chairman Mark Ein, with national average office occupancy up to 43% — a 50% jump since the beginning of the year.

But when asked what separates the firms successfully enticing workers back, and those that still lag, Ein said it comes down to marching orders.

“Frankly, the ones who have been most successful have put stakes in the grounds and said that 'we need you back,' with various degrees of flexibility,” he said. “They have required people to come back. It’s been the most effective strategy.”

As office occupancy creeps up nationwide, occupier services is seeing new demands and an evolving business model.

Uncertain times call for different measures and approaches, the old rules and playbooks are no longer applicable – so what are you going to do? Sit around, stagnate, hanker after old solutions trying to manipulate and squeeze them into new, unknowable, untried paradigms? No! One thing human beings are fairly good at is evolving and adapting to new and unknown situations and as we all know, being flexible and accepting change creates resilience and ensures survival.

So how does that translate into the working world and the war on talent, attracting and retaining the best people for an organisation? At the recent Omnirama incubator, our network of participants from a broad range of countries, backgrounds, experiences and age groups gave us insights into their thinking on how to future proof the talent war.

Before lunch and after lunch. These are, traditionally speaking, the most precious times during your workday, when researchers believe you’ll be at your productivity peak. But with the rise of COVID-19 and so many people still working from home, Microsoft Research has spotted a new trend: Many of us are picking up a third grind between 9 and 11 p.m.

It’s important to take the time to reach out to others, especially on the most important issues of our day such as sustainable office design.

For more than two years, many office workers’ homes have been performing double duty as both residence and office space. It’s been an awkward mash-up for some, with couches becoming desk chairs and kitchen tables topped with computer monitors. For others, it’s been a nice long taste of casual comfort, untethered from the formalities of the conventional office.

Now, as offices begin to reopen and repopulate, some companies are trying to bring that sense of comfort back with them. Instead of going back to the office status quo, some have redesigned their spaces to look more like a home than an office building.

Built in the 1950s by architect and industrial designer Eero Saarinen, the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, has been the innovative home for the automotive company for nearly 70 years. The GM Technical Center’s role as an integral hub of operations for nearly seven decades is a testament to the thoughtfulness of the original team of designers. For an organization such as GM, one that was built on the success of its vehicle design, having an exceptional physical space may seem natural. However, fully embracing a philosophy for a well-designed environment is more elusive than many companies expect.

Our ability to detect certain types of colour is limited by the structure of our eyes, but we can learn to see things that might otherwise be invisible.

If the return to the office is to be successful now, Stuart Finnie of Unispace says a rethink on how the space is used is needed by all.

A permanent post-pandemic switch to hybrid working may do little to reduce carbon emissions as the majority of remote workers travel further each week than their office-based counterparts, new research from the University of Sussex Business School reveals. The newly published study finds that, prior to the pandemic, most remote workers in England travelled further each week than office-based workers – despite taking fewer trips. This was partly because remote workers tended to live further from their workplace than non-teleworkers, so had longer, if less frequent, commutes. In addition, remote workers engaged in more travel on the days when they worked from home – for example, by making extra trips to shops and cafes.

The researchers also found that the total weekly travel was greater in households where at least one member was remote working, suggesting that the presence of remote workers in a home encourages greater travel by their flatmates and family members.

Research shows how Covid and working from home has shifted what workers value about their workplaces -- and what we need to do about it.

 

Today, roughly a quarter of U.S workers work from home five days a week, with another third or so defined as hybrid workers who work from one to three days a week in a traditional office. The remaining 40 percent or so work four to five days a week in a traditional office.

When it comes to exciting new technologies like the metaverse, separating the reality from the hype is crucial to understanding its true potential.

Moody’s Analytics says the talk sounds good, but the realities are expensive and tough.

Washington, D.C.’s vacancy rate likely hasn’t peaked, but a shrunken development pipeline and office conversions may turn things around.

The company also aims to create 12,000 new jobs by the end of 2022.

Increased delays, more uncertainty and higher costs appear to be the name of the game for office fit outs across the US this year, as supply chain challenges continue to plague deliveries. 

That’s according to a new fit out guide from Cushman & Wakefield, which notes that “there does appear to be some light at the end of the tunnel” as the supplier delivery index, which measures manufacturer delays, has been declining since mid-2021.

The supply chain stress indices for both the US and China ended last year up 40% over pre-pandemic levels, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. All the while, construction starts have been posting above-average numbers, led by industrial and residential. But office construction also remains elevated, with 118 msf in the pipeline—a figure that’s 43% above the 20-year historical average. 

And as occupiers rethink their return-to-work strategies, office space usage will increase, according to Cushman & Wakefield experts.

HBC plans to rebrand its SaksWorks locations as Convene going forward.

Common Desk CEO: Flexibility and Hospitality are Keys to Riding the Wave of ‘Cataclysmic Change’ in the Future of Office Now under the WeWork umbrella, Common Desk aims to shape the growth of the flexible workspace industry. While offices still engage in what Clark calls “an amenity race,”...

Co-working businesses allow remote workers to rent shared or private desks and office spaces, aiming to foster a sense of community by connecting working professionals.

The company, NEXposture, introduces ergonomic office furniture for any office setting, including remote workers.

Branch Furniture, an online seller of office furniture to individuals and businesses, raised a $10 million Series A led by Springdale Ventures.

Plural’s website features innovative new commercial furniture solutions made in America for healthcare, corporate, hospitality, and market-defying applications.

Once he steps aside at AIS, Platzman said he would shift his focus to philanthropy and the region’s economy.

Why add a device to your desk that will require an additional outlet, when you can have one that draws power directly from your desk? The LINAK Desk2Device USB charger does just that. Users have one less power cable to worry about while they intelligently power their USB Type-C and USB Type-A devices at the fastest possible rate.

 

Power access and cable management are important features for both productivity and aesthetics in the workspace. The last thing many desk workers want, whether in the corporate or home office, is another power cable cluttering their workspace. Yet everyone has the same challenge of having more unique devices that need power as we work throughout the day. That is why LINAK® has developed the all-new Desk2Device USB Charger. Charge your devices right from your desk!

 

With an elegant and sleek design, the LINAK Desk2Device USB charger has the benefit of drawing power directly from the LINAK control box while also not taking anything away from a stylish desk design. Powered by the Control Box CBD6S, the device helps remove the clutter of an additional power cable for users. The charger features two smart USB Type-C ports that intelligently allocate a max. of 50 W of power among the ports as needed, and a USB Type-A port with a dedicated 7.5 W of power. This allows users to charge virtually any USB device at the fastest possible rate.

 

The Desk2Device USB Charger comes with two different mounts (flat and angled), and a low voltage DC-input cable that is available in different lengths, offering a variety of mounting options. Choose between a C-clamp for mounting on top of the tabletop, or screws. This provides customers with even more design freedom or allows users the flexibility to choose the best location for their working style.

The Elemental Collections features 9 high performance upholsteries that are inspired by the five enduring elements of nature. It is an ethereal collection that provides an everyday antidote to a beautifully unpredictable world.

When not in use, the nesting stools don’t take up much space.

KFI Studio’s Eveleen outdoor collection is a tried-and-true favorite for creating an inviting outdoor space.

Static Links, a high-performance acoustic lighting system available in configurable, dynamic shapes.

Michael Hilgers runs an eponymous design studio in Berlin. The architect’s specialty is space-saving furniture, which incidentally stands out from the crowd.

This new collection of novelties features a broad range of categories including storage, seating, outdoor and accessories; there’s sure to be something for everyone.

The new GSK Office features unassigned seating as well as a variety of settings to accommodate various individual modes of working.

MANIERA, a gallery that commissions designers to venture beyond their practice, transforms a co-working space inside a modernist building.

This shared workspace for creatives located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, features a minimalist black and white interiors and gold-toned accents.

47 CEU Sessions Will Offer Insight into the Future of Work, the Rise of NFTs, Sustainable Strategies, & More

Salone del Mobile.Milano is returning with a new exciting program of events – here’s what you should have on your design radar!

Arper, a leading Italian company that operates internationally and expresses itself through a special focus on color, system flexibility, elegance, and sustainability; has partnered with the highly anticipated Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure© exhibition. The exhibition opened its doors on April 9th at the RXR’s Starrett-Lehigh Building in New York City.

Organized and curated by the family of Jean-Michel Basquiat, the exhibition will feature over 200 never before and rarely seen paintings, drawings, ephemera and artifacts by the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, to give an intimate and multidimensional portrait of the artist. The gallery is transformed into a complex streetscape, finished with textural wood paneling to emphasize the artist’s deep connection with the city.

Bosses don’t just want workers back at the office. They want people to love being around their co-workers.

 

Almost anytime is a good time for alcohol in Jude Maboné’s office these days.

The 26-year-old marketing professional in Washington, D.C., says her workday usually ends at 6 p.m., but on a recent Tuesday most of the staff called it quits and broke out the drinks at 4:30 p.m. Then there was a Thursday when her bosses—some two or three times her age—started scooping liquor-infused ice cream with the same alcohol content as a Budweiser at 2:30 p.m.

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