As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have switched to either complete remote or hybrid work. This has made a significant impact on the way employees choose to work. Some employees have returned in a more limited capacity, while others have decided not to return to the office. As a result of this trend, a decrease in the amount of usable office space has been reported by several businesses.
Robin Powered conducted a survey called 2022 Office Space, where they asked several business owners and/or managers various questions related to the use of their office space in the workplace after the COVID-19 pandemic, remote and hybrid work, and the Great Resignation. The results they found were quite interesting.
Some details from the report include:
- 46 percent of those surveyed no longer use more than half of their available office space.
- 11 percent of respondents use all of their available office space.
- 48 percent of those surveyed report their use of open office space has decreased since the beginning of the pandemic.
- 60 percent of those currently using half or less of their available office space have since downsized before the pandemic.
- 46 percent of respondents plan to reduce their available office space in 2023.
- 59 percent of those surveyed are planning to cut their office space by half or even more than half.
From the survey, 83 percent of those respondents indicated that these changes were made to reduce costs and save more money. About 73% of respondents plan to transition to hybrid business operations instead of laying off employees or other cost-effective practices.
Aside from interviewing business owners and facilities managers, Robin Powered also surveyed the employees that work at those companies and received more information on how they prefer to work.
- 37 percent of employees surveyed are working full time at the office.
- 61 percent of the employees surveyed have some type of hybrid work environment.
- 87 percent of hybrid employees report spending two or more days a week at the office.
A common question among business owners and managers is how can we help employees to the best of our abilities with remote and/or hybrid business operations increasing significantly? Business owners and facilities managers must also consider the substantial cost savings associated with remote and hybrid work.
One of the best ways to assist you through this process while making changes to your own business operations is working with an IT service provider, like us at 4 Corner IT, to ensure your technology can support some of these changes. We can assist you and your company in acquiring and implementing the right technology to sustain remote and/or hybrid business operations.
For any questions or to learn more about what we can do for your company, please contact us today at 954.474.2204.
