Many companies rethinking office space after COVID-19
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The coronavirus already changed the way we work. Now it’s changing the physical space too.
Many companies are making adjustments to their offices to help employees feel safer as they return to in-person work, like improving air circulation systems or moving desks farther apart.
Others are ditching desks and building more conference rooms to accommodate employees who still work remotely but come in for meetings.
Designers say this is a time of experimentation and reflection for employers. Steelcase, an office furniture company based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, says its research indicates half of global companies plan major redesigns to their office space this year.
“This year caused you to think, maybe even more fundamentally than you ever have before, ‘Hey, why do we go to an office?’ ” said Natalie Engels, a San Jose, California-based design principal at Gensler, an architecture firm.
Not every company is making changes, and Engels stresses that they don’t have to. She tells clients to remember what worked well — and what didn’t — before the pandemic.
But designers say many companies are looking for new ways to make employees feel safe and invigorated at the office, especially as a labor crunch makes hiring more difficult.
That’s what drove food and pharmaceutical company Ajinomoto to overhaul the design of its new North American headquarters outside Chicago last year.
Ajinomoto’s employees returned to in-person work in May to a building with wider hallways and glass panels between cubicles, to give them more space and try to make them feel more secure. To improve mental health, the company transformed a planned work area into a spa-like “relaxation room” with reclining chairs and soft music. A test kitchen is wired for virtual presentations in case clients don’t want to travel.
And a cleaning crew comes through twice a day, leaving Post-it notes to show what’s been disinfected.
“Maybe it’s over the top, but maybe it provides comfort to those that have sensitivities to returning to an in-person work environment,” said Ryan Smith, the executive vice president of Ajinomoto North America. Smith estimates 40% of the new headquarters design changed due to COVID.
Shobha Surya, an associate manager of projects and sales at Ajinomoto, is energized by the space.
“The office gives you a balance of work and home life,” she said. “You are more focused here and don’t have any distractions.”
Surya said she’s thrilled to be working alongside her co-workers again.
Surveys show the thing employees miss most about office work is socializing and collaborating with colleagues, said Lise Newman, workplace practice director at architecture firm SmithGroup. Companies are trying to encourage that rapport by building more social hubs for employees.