The New Work Era – Working in 2022?

The world of work is undergoing structural change – anyone who hasn’t noticed must have missed the last two years. Never before have working models changed as rapidly and radically as they will due to the outbreak of the corona pandemic in early 2020: Keywords like new work, home office and co. hit the current zeitgeist and are on everyone’s lips.

But what has actually happened in the working world in the meantime? What do employees want? Where will the journey take us?

We have identified four fundamental trends that you should definitely be aware of!

1. Flexible work location

Recently, the workplace is no longer exclusively located in the office. Many companies have turned to home office concepts during the Corona era. This seems to appeal to most employees, as it allows them to manage their work-life balance more efficiently.

Whether completely remote, in a home office or hybrid concepts in which employees switch back and forth between the office and home, it is clear that flexible workplace models are becoming increasingly popular. This is because it gives employees more freedom to choose their workplace according to their personal situation.

2. Co-working

Some employees are able to work independently and completely on their own if their job requires it. As a rule, however, most of them work in a team of several colleagues. In some cases, projects even have to be implemented across departments.

For the purposes of co-working, it is therefore crucial that team members are given the opportunity to exchange ideas with each other at all times – whether in the office or in the home office.

In the office, employees should therefore always be provided with a workstation as well as meeting and conference rooms where they can get together with team colleagues. On the other hand, in the home office, suitable video conferencing tools must ensure that they can also network virtually.

To maintain an overview and organize co-working smartly, a booking system specifically for workspace can be used. This helps coordinate work locations within teams in a transparent way to boost productivity.

3. Modern workplace design

Nevertheless, the office remains popular. If only from the perspective of collaboration with teammates, most workers don’t want to completely avoid visits to the office.

But here, too, more and more demands are being made: be it height-adjustable desks, ergonomic office chairs to rest areas, team rooms and the like. Corporate real estate management should therefore look at modern workspace concepts and redesign the available space where necessary.

4. Smart Data

Data-driven insights are indispensable in such workplace designs! After all, they map the wishes and preferences of employees and help to understand how workspace, meeting rooms, etc. are actually used.

The advantage of monitoring space utilization: Valuable conclusions can be drawn for utilization management, which in turn allows space planning and design to be adjusted.