What Hybrid Work Means for the Future of the Office

VTM & CBRE believes that COVID-19 revealed three key principles about the modern workforce:

• 01 Employees value flexibility and the ability to more freely balance their professional and personal lives.

• 02 The digital infrastructure to support virtual work is already available.

• 03 There is widespread agreement among employees and companies that different kinds of work are best done in different types of spaces.

Taken together, these factors indicate that office spaces will need to offer enough value that people will choose the office over virtual work settings. In short, VTM & CBRE expects the office to become more consumer oriented.

This shift was already happening before COVID-19 as companies pursued placemaking efforts and invested in flexible workspaces with their promise of hospitality services, flexible working environments and picture-worthy places.

The physical environment remains an important place to draw people together to collaborate and connect with one another and participate in workplace culture. At the same time the virtual environment is recognized as a strong substitute for the office at least some of the time.

Virtual work offers employees the flexibility to balance other goals and ambitions outside of their professional lives. While hybrid work proposes a unique set of challenges for companies large and small, the opportunity to cultivate a more fulfilled and engaged workforce is the biggest motivating factor of all.