In this report, we’re assessing the most urgent trends facing our clients around the world. These challenges transcend industry, impacting institutional and business leaders at every scale.
This edition explores how the workplace can support employee engagement, success, and retention; what schools and business can do prepare for seismic workforce shifts; and, lastly, how to mitigate some of today’s economic risk and global uncertainty. For each of these challenges, we’re highlighting our latest design research, subject-matter expertise, and client insights.
The world is changing fast. We’ll help you navigate it.
Challenge 01 ― Page 6
Creating destinations
Why your workplace should be designed for human connection.
Challenge 02 ― Page 12
Training for the next generation
To address evolving tech and demographic trends, we’re going to need new skills.
Challenge 03 ― Page 18
Working smarter
Large-scale disruptors demand high-impact innovations to reduce risk, shorten timelines, and lower cost.
Challenge 01. Creating destinations
Creating Destinations
Why your workplace should be designed for human connection.
For most of the last century, “work” was a fixed place. Employees commuted every day, rain or shine. Now it’s much more flexible—we work in offices, yes, but also in our homes, in public spaces, and on the go.
Where we do our jobs has fundamentally shifted before our eyes. So what does that mean for the future of the workplace?
Proximity to the Workplace
Fully-remote and hybrid jobs have nearly tripled in popularity since the onset of the pandemic. Many U.S. workers responded to the uptick by moving farther away from their employers, perhaps in search of a different lifestyle or quality of life.
At the same time, businesses expanded their recruiting pools by hiring candidates who live farther away. Now, the distance that employees live from work is 27 miles (40 km)—that’s up from 10 miles (16 km) pre-pandemic (Figure 1).
Appetite for In-Person Work
While remote working norms vary widely by location and industry, we do see on a global level that employees want to work from home more than their employers allow (Figure 2).
That said, there are some benefits to in-person engagement. Workers around the world cite socializing and face-to-face-collaboration as the top two reasons to work in the office (Figure 3).
Designing for People
Put more simply: We want to connect with each other. It’s about people. That means the workplace of today must set the stage for inspiration, collaboration, learning, and mentorship. It has to be inclusive. It is a place that supports well-being, holistically.
If we can design for the strengths of the office, we can create places that drive engagement, support retention, and fuel more productive, meaningful work.
1 Average distance from the workplace
Source: WFH Research. Authors calculated the mean distance using Gusto data. Sample contains employees of 5,793 [U.S.] firms in a balanced panel of firms.
3 Benefits of going to work
Source: WFH Research. Among workers that have work-from home experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Responses to the question “What are the top benefits of working on your employer’s business premises? Please choose up to three.” Sample of N=20,732 workers in 34 countries surveyed in April-May 2023.
2 Days
Source: WFH Research. Responses to the question “As the pandemic ends, how often would you like to have paid workdays at home?” Sample of N=42,426 workers in 34 countries surveyed in April-May 2023. Responses to the question “As the pandemic ends, how often is your employer planning for you to work full days at home?” Sample of N=34,657 workers in 34 countries surveyed in April-May 2023.
Average number of WFH days per week that employers plan
Average number of WFH days per week that employees desire
35%
Dig Deeper
Fresh takes on how to design destinations that power workplace success.
Designing for a new way of working
Our practice leaders offer observations and design strategies for the future of workplace design, responding directly to the top questions our clients are asking: What will draw people to the workplace? What should we invest in? How do we make decisions? What makes an inclusive workplace? How will we know if it’s working?
Discover →
Still trying to get employees back to the office?
During the height of the pandemic, Expedia moved its headquarters from Bellevue, Washington to Seattle. Navigating this shift while keeping its workforce satisfied called for a commute program that offers a range of choices—everything from car and vanpooling to “commutecash” payouts and other incentives. The range of options cast the widest possible net, allowing employees to choose the options that work best for them. Here, we talk to two leaders in the company’s real estate division about how they are adapting to the challenges of the day.
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Featured Insight
Brochure
Above: Confidential Headquarters
Featured Insight
Step outside (and into) your comfort zone.
The outdoor office is poised to become a global trend. Terraces and other functional outdoor office spaces, once considered desirable perks at workplaces, are now vital tools for recruiting and retaining top talent. From motivating employees to return to the office, to strengthening social bonds, to decreasing the volume of interior space that needs to be heated or cooled, outdoor workspaces benefit tenants, owners, and the environment. Leading developers and employers share their insights into designing high-quality outdoor areas that help people work and connect in new ways.
Dive in →
These research laboratories are poised to attract top talent.
The tendency for tenants to leave less–desirable buildings in favor of more attractive ones, a phenomenon known as “flight to quality,” is on the rise in the life sciences. According to JLL, “Tenants are prioritizing purposebuilt, well-amenitized space in the best possible locations.” Learn how four cutting-edge, flexibly designed research facilities offer connections to the broader community and a lively mix of services and activities.
Featured Insight
Above: Resurgens Plaza
Below: Northwestern University, Louis A. Simpson and Kimberly K. Querrey Biomedical Research Center
Challenge 02. Training for the next generation
Training for the Next Generation
Training for New and Emerging Careers
Business leaders predict that 44% of workers’ core skills will be disrupted by 2027 (Figure 1). Much of our workforce will need retraining to respond to rapid technological advancements, the rise of generative AI, aging infrastructure, and emerging climate interventions. In the U.S., new federal legislation opens the door for major infrastructure investment, but new research highlights the crucial role of businesses and educational institutions to adequately prepare the workforce for these new opportunities.
Every industry will need to reimagine how job training happens—and where. In traditional education environments, like secondary schools or colleges and universities, this may show up as expanded career and technical education. In the near future, employers should expect to train candidates as an integrated part of their human resources or talent programs. Top of mind will be how to evolve your organizational structure, real estate strategy, and strategic partnerships.
To address evolving tech and demographic trends, we’re going to need new skills.
Expanding Healthcare Capacity
It’s not just about learning new skills. Demographic shifts will require more of the skilled workers we already have, like nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals. That’s because large segments of our global population are aging and living longer than ever before: The United Nations predicts a quadrupling of the centenarian population, or individuals living past 100 years old, in the next 30 years (Figure 2).
We will need to expand the capacity of our healthcare systems as lifespans lengthen. That means growing our stable of healthcare workers—and the teachers and institutions who train them. Medical education will be a major area of growth to watch.
1 Predicted disruption to workers’ core skills by 2027
Source: World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report 2023. Value is the mean skill stability percentage of 26 key skills, as estimated by organizations surveyed.
Top five countries with the largest centenarian populations and 30-year projection
Source: United Nations population projections via Pew Research Center. Population projections show a medium variant scenario
Centenarians per 10,000 people, 30-year projection
Total centenarians, ranked 30-year projection
Featured
What’s happening at the leading edge of workforce development. Dig Deeper
A new generation of career and technical education is readying students for a rapidly shifting workforce.
Many employers in the U.S. are struggling to find skilled workers in roles that don’t necessarily require a college degree.
A study published last year by McKinsey indicated that the number of nurses in the workforce dropped by 100,000 in 2021. Manufacturing, meanwhile, could risk losing $454 billion by 2028 if jobs continue to go unfulfilled. And in tech, which has been dropping college degree requirements for many roles in the industry, only 65 out of 100 job postings are being filled, mainly due to a lack of training focused on emerging technologies. Now, some high schools are leveraging design to set students up for success.
Learn how →
Insight
Above: Alabama School of Cyber Technology & Engineering
Featured Insight
From clinician to campus change manager
The health education leaders who oversee the client side of the building process are typically trained as clinicians, not as change managers. As they guide their teams through design exercises for new building projects, they’re likely to encounter conflicting opinions, future uncertainty, budget constraints, and other challenges. Here are 12 insights and lessons learned from health education leaders who have successfully navigated the process.
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Featured Insight
5 trends in health education
campus design
As the medical and healthcare professions evolve, so must the institutions that train the next generation of providers. Health education buildings are changing, too, as institutional leaders, students, and faculty work with architects and designers to support new ways of teaching and learning.
See what’s new →
Above: Southeast Community College, Health Sciences Building
Left: University of British Columbia Gateway
Challenge 03. Working smarter
Working smarter
Project risk can show up in unexpected ways. Events on far corners of the globe have ripple effects close to home—and our changing climate imposes new and extreme threats to our communities and the built environment. It’s more important than ever to be thoughtful, responsible stewards of large capital expenditures like design and construction projects.
Planning for the Predictable
In some cases, big changes appear far on the horizon. This year, we expect roughly half of the world’s population to head to the polls, as national elections take place in 64 countries plus the European Union (Figure 1). The outcomes of these elections will have far-reaching economic and policy implications, so we may see delayed capital investment and decisionmaking until late in the year.
Businesses that have carefully taken stock of their resources and planned for the future will be ready to kick off major projects when the environment is right. The key to planning with precision? Harnessing real-time, accurate data to reveal critical real estate insights.
Large-scale disruptors demand high-impact innovations to reduce risk, shorten timelines, and lower cost.
Designing for the Unknown
Other risks are more difficult to predict with precision. NOAA predicts up to 25 named storms in the 2024 hurricane season—that’s twice the historical average. And as of April 2024, global temperatures have broken heat records for 11 consecutive months (Figure 2). Weather events can damage buildings and delay construction timelines, which hurts the bottom line.
Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA)—which includes prefabricated and modular construction— is on the rise as a means of reducing some of this risk. Prefabricated and modular construction takes advantage of off-site construction in a controlled environment, which improves quality and consistency and lessens the likelihood of weather-related damages or delays. It also shortens timelines by enabling components to be manufactured concurrently with on-site work.
As our world changes around us, we must be ready to adopt new technology and better processes.
1 Roughly half of the world population will vote in 2024
Source: The Economist. Includes legislative, presidential and EU elections, as well as nationwide elections at the municipal or regional level in 2024.
2 Daily sea surface temperature anomalies
Note: Global surface air temperature anomalies (°C) from January 1979 to May 2024, averaged for each calendar year. Anomalies are relative to the average for the 1991–2020 reference period. Source: ERA5. Credit: Copernicus Climate Change Service/ECMWF.
Dig Deeper
New tools and innovative processes that unlock potential.
Data modeling and dashboards
Decision support. Asset tracking. Meeting ESG goals. These needs—and a host of others—are driving organizations to leverage new tools and platforms to better understand their buildings, campuses, and real estate portfolios. Take a peek behind the curtain and see how we’re helping clients around the world understand their needs and transform business.
Explore →
Workplace Strategy
Improved employee experience. Increased productivity. Operational efficiency. Better utilization. Energy and cost savings. These are just a few of the measures we use to define success in our buildings. From strategic planning to post-occupancy evaluation, we offer tools and strategies to define key performance indicators, measure performance, and help to drive changes through an organization by preparing, equipping, and supporting its employees.
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