Space Matters – 5 Key Office Trends and Metrics for U.S. Occupiers

In the face of the tightest labor market in approximately 18 years, corporate occupiers are highly focused on talent acquisition and retention.  Results of a recent research survey conducted by Cushman & Wakefield and CoreNet Global, entitled What Occupiers Want, revealed that finding and keeping top talent is the number one challenge for global organizations.

Corporate real estate is increasingly becoming a significant tool to attract high-quality talent.  This alignment of real estate and business strategy is driving several critical trends, influenced by technology, that impact how space is designed and utilized.

The five trends that we noticed were:

1. The shrinking office – sf per employee has decreased from 211 to 194.  Despite the trend, we have noticed that densification is slowing as companies optimize personal and communal space to increase employee effectiveness.
2. Real estate as a service – traditional amenities still in high demand.  Watch for special amenities like bowling alleys and virtual golf.
3. Technology drivers – investment in PropTech has quadrupled, changing how employees interact with office space.  Watch for automation like robotics, voice and optical recognition to execute security, cleaning, mail delivery, etc.
4. Parking tight in high-density locations – parking is scarce in many urban submarkets. Watch for autonomous vehicles as disruptors.
5. Good times for tenants – concessions were up 21.7% YoY in gateway markets.  Watch for upward trend to spread to secondary markets.

Read the full report here.  CW_Space_Matters_GOS_Report_interactive.