As organizations continue to strategize on low in-person attendance, a new report from Cushman & Wakefield argues the next phase of office demand will be driven not by mandates or footprint reductions, but rather workplace experience.
According to the report, most corporate workplace strategies remain overly focused on cost control and attendance metrics, while underinvesting in the one factor most closely linked to employee engagement and productivity: workplace experience.
“Mandates don’t create engagement, meaningful experiences do,” said Bryan Berthold, Global Lead Workplace Experience at Cushman & Wakefield. “The most successful occupiers aren’t forcing people back to the office, they’re creating environments that make employees want to come in.”
The report found that employees who rate their workplace experience highly are more likely to be engaged at work, yet only 60% of employees say their office supports collaboration and connection, the top reasons they come on-site.
According to the report, just 1% of employers consistently prioritize workplace strategy at the enterprise level and 53% over-prioritize cost at the expense of experience. Additionally, only 5% of organizations are considered “entirely strategic” in their workplace approach.
“For years, the industry equated productivity with occupancy,” said Linsey Smith, Senior Director, Strategic Consulting at Cushman & Wakefield. “But the data shows that experience, not attendance, drives performance. That is what will shape demand for the next generation of office assets.”
In order to address these gaps, the report outlines three “actions forward” to help organizations move from tactical fixes to strategic results. The report suggests employers establish strategic alignment and vision, design for experience and integration and embed agile measurement and scaling in the workplace that move beyond attendance counts to track engagement, inclusion and wellbeing.
“The next wave of office demand will be experience-led,” said Berthold. “Investors and occupiers who understand that connection will capture outsized value through stronger tenant engagement, better retention and more resilient portfolios.”
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