What is the future of the office in the age of hybrid working? With the average number of days that people worked in the office rising to 3.1 days, 2023 was the year that many businesses hit the return to the office ‘sweet spot’.
According to the Virgin Media O2 Business Movers Index, 40% of companies returned to a five-day office working week and this is continuing as we enter the second half of 2024.
Indeed, over three quarters (76%) of businesses surveyed by law firm Irwin Mitchell have changed the amount of office space they occupied in the last 12 months or are planning to change it in future, with 34% actually taking more office space in the last year.
A major contributing factor in overcoming the tug-of-war with employees over the return to the office has been the delivery of a ‘back to better’ strategy, rather than a Draconian approach, with companies at pains to deliver a high-quality office environment which is attractive enough to entice people back to the workplace.
This has seen the majority retain an element of hybrid working, bringing together a blend of amenities and collaborative workspaces at high-quality offices – either by upgrading their existing premises, working with their landlords, relocating to new offices which are fit for purpose, or a blend of both.
But does this approach deliver results? London-headquartered FTSE 250 recruitment firm, PageGroup thinks so.
With people at the heart of their business, PageGroup has always been an organisation focused on putting people first and, as such, its offices lie at the heart of its culture.
The challenge for the company was how to ensure they could continue to have that beating heart within their workplace, whilst also recognising that client / candidate / employee expectations had changed dramatically.
Working with legal advisers Irwin Mitchell, together with property experts at Vail Williams, they developed a new workplace strategy which was underpinned by a balanced approach to the needs of the business, its clients and its people.
PageGroup embraced strategic principles such as unassigned desking and neighbourhoods, with technology as an enabler and a more inclusive and sustainable design.
Discussing their approach, Olly Wilkins, Managing Director – Group Procurement and Property at PageGroup, explains: “It had been clear for some time, even pre-dating the pandemic, that how we were using office space was changing. In the past, as much as 30% of a typical office was being taken up by meeting rooms as, historically, much of our engagement with clients and candidates was face-to-face and office based.
“However, as recruitment became increasingly digital and with the rise of video, there was less of a need to hold in-person interviews or client meetings at our offices, resulting in areas of our portfolio being under-utilised.”
Together with technology improvements to better support flexible working and the prevalence of assigned desks for each person within the business, PageGroup recognised the potential to address space inefficiencies.