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Quick peek inside this WE:Brief (2023, Edition 2)
• WEF publishes Real Industry Trend Outlook 2023-2027
• ADP’s People at Work 2023: A Global Workforce View of What Employees Have Versus What They Want
• What EU country has the highest share of regular remote workers? The Netherlands…
• The latest data on return-to-office trends from WFH Research
• WEF Future of Jobs Report suggests the need for learning and development spaces
• Research shows less mentoring on WFH days though it does not suggest a causal relationship
• Office Demand Index Report shows office space showings down 37% from before the Pandemic
• Report suggests innovation strategies should be shared more widely and better aligned with organizational goals
• Business travel may never recover from the pandemic
• Sponsor Spotlight: Discover the new Planon Workplace App
• WE LOVE Our Sponsors
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The sense that workers want – and need – a lot from their job is stronger than ever. They require remuneration that keeps pace with rising living costs and makes them feel valued for their efforts. They need work to satisfy them personally and professionally and gives them the flexibility so many people have come to expect in recent years. They want a supportive company culture that strives for fairness and inclusivity. And they expect employers to invest in their futures via proactive career development and training opportunities
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This survey of 32k global employees from 17 countries delivers some great information about what workers want and they are getting from their employer. It covers satisfaction with compensation, benefits, flexibility, career opportunities, training, DEI, mental health, and more. Here are a few statistics that caught my attention:
– Respondents from China are most satisfied with the training and development they receive from their employer; those from Argentina were the least satisfied (38%).
– Fifty-two percent of U.S. employees were satisfied with their career progression compared to just 31% in Italy.
– In every country, flexibility in when they work is more important than flexibility where employees work. Flexible hours are most critical in North America and Latin America—38% named it among their top three factors of importance in their job. Flexibility in where they work was lowest in Europe—15% included it in their top 3.
– Hybrid workers were the most satisfied with their flexibility—60% in time, 62% in location. On premise workers were the least satisfied—50% for when and 47% for where.
– About a quarter of employees have complete flexibility in where they work. Forty-one percent have some flexibility, and 31% have none.
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Patterns of remote, hybrid, and in-office work are settling out.
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Based on a special analysis of government data, WFH research shows 28% of all U.S. workdays are worked from home. This is down from a high of 62% at the peak of the pandemic but has changed little since April of 2022.
The split among full-time workers, as of February is: 60% fully on site, 29% hybrid, and 12% fully at home. Among those who WFH, the average is 2.2 days per week. The gap between the frequency employers want versus their employees, as of the April survey, is .5 days a week (employees wanting greater frequency); this has been fairly stable since early 2022.
The biggest difference of opinion is in the desire for full-time remote work; 29% of employees who worked from home during the pandemic want this option, but only 21% are allowed by their employer.
Among just those who worked from home during the pandemic, 65% are currently working at home one or more days a week. Here is the breakdown:
– 21% are working at home full-time
– 6% are at home 4 days a week
– 12% are 3 days a week
– 16% are 2 days a week
– 11% are 1 day a week
– 35% are fully in-office
As we have seen in other surveys, older workers (age 50+) are choosing to work in the office far more than other age groups, but they also represent the highest share of fully at-home workers.
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The study finds the difference in mentoring time when working from home (vs. the office) is greater for female workers.
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WFH Research—a consortium of Stanford University, The University of Chicago, and ITAM—has been studying remote, hybrid, and office trends since May of 2020. Their latest survey shows mentoring and being mentored are more common at the office than when the mentor or mentee is at home.
Time spent being mentored:
– Women when working at home vs. the office: 10.9 minutes a day vs. 14.3, respectively
– Men: 14 minutes per day vs. 15.5 (in office)
Time spent mentoring others:
– Women when working from home vs. the office: 19.2 minutes a day vs. 30.3. respectively
– Men: 20.9 minutes per day vs. 29.1 (in office)
The media and others may be quick to interpret this data as an indication that WFH is bad for mentoring, particularly for women, or that it is more effective in the office, but this research does not draw that conclusion. Without further investigation it is not possible to make either conclusion. People may simple choose to use the office for mentoring activities.
With population-weightings for age, gender, education, and earnings, WFH Research is one of the most robust sources of research on this topic.
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By gathering insights from industry experts, Shadow Ventures can help companies understand the current state of innovation in the Built Industry and identify areas for improvement.
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Shadow Partners’ 2023 global survey of over 900 architects, engineers, developers, and executives in the Built Environment showed the industry is in need of flexing its innovation muscle. Using the DIAL innovation framework—which benchmarks organizations and industries as Disrupters, Innovators, Adopters, or Laggards—the report rates our industry as an Adopter. What that means is while some organizations in the industry are doing innovative things, the sector has yet to fully embrace and integrate innovation as a core value. The report suggests innovation in the industry suffers in the following areas:
– Internal innovation is hampered by Internal resource constraints and a failure to prioritize it.
– External innovation, which involves partnering with or acquiring others, is on the table but most organizations have not allocated specific budgets to pursue such initiatives.
– Strong ecosystems that include diverse players have been shown to drive innovations, but most organizations are struggling with how to develop and leverage them.
– A culture of innovation is one that promotes accountability, risk-taking, and experimentation. More attention is needed in this area.
– Being able to envision and plan for the future is critical for innovation, but most organizations are not forward-looking enough to see the possibilities.
– Technology is an essential driver of innovation. Most organizations adopt new technology with a one-off attitude rather than incorporating it into a comprehensive and ongoing strategy.
It’s a fascinating report with details about the questions that led to their conclusions and suggestions for what organizations should do to be more innovative.
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Searching for a mobile solution that meets the needs of workplace users in this hybrid working era? Connect your people with their workplace, services and facilities with the Planon Workplace App:
- Visually identify and book rooms, desks and other facilities from an interactive floor plan
- Easily create requests for cleaning, catering, maintenance and other facility services
- View information about colleagues, including when they expect to be in the office
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Industry and geographic breakdowns are included in the WEF Job Trends Report.
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The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report includes predicted trends in the real estate industry including:
– The impact of global trends and technology changes on job creation
– Structural industry churn due to job declines and increases
– Tasks that are and will be performed by machine
– Talent outlook
– Skills and reskilling outlook
– Types of training anticipated
– Workforce strategy outlook
– Components of DEI programs outlook
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Data from Eurostat and Statista reveals which European countries have the highest percentage of remote workers.
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Based on data from Eurostat and Statistica, the article indicates about 30% of EU workers regularly worked at home in 2022. Leading the pack was the Netherlands with nearly 65% of people working remotely on a regular basis. Luxembourg, Sweden, and Ireland all show uptake at more than 50%. France, Malta, and Austria showed the lowest remote participation among EU countries. The UK was not included in the chart. Data from the U.K. government indicates as of January 2023, 44% of U.K. employees were working remotely (16%) or were hybrid workers (28%).
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The Future of Jobs Report 2023 explores how jobs and skills will evolve over the next five years. This fourth edition of the series continues the analysis of employer expectations to provide new insights on how socio-economic and technology trends will shape the workplace of the future.
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The annual Future of Jobs Report is chocked full of information about how the mix of jobs is expected to change in the next five years. At nearly 300 pages, it would be impossible to summarize here, but here are a few findings that will be of particular interest to our industry
– Over the next five years, 83 million jobs are projected to be lost and 69 million are projected to be created. Together this churn represents 23% of the workforce. The net is a 2% loss of jobs (page 28).
– The following industries will experience the largest churn:
– Media, Entertainment, and Sports
– Government and Public Sector
– IT and Digital Communications
– Real Estate
– Financial Services
The report includes expected churn data for over a hundred jobs
– Top skills for the future include:
– Creative thinking
– Analytical thinking
– Technology literacy
– Curiosity and lifelong learning
– Resilience, flexibility, and agility
– Organizations are adopting the following strategies to adapt to these changes:
– Investing in learning and on-the-job training (81%)
– Accelerating process automation (80%)
– Transitioning staff from declining roles (46%)
The bottom line: Spaces conducive to learning and development will be critical in the near future.
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VTS reports shows office tours at 63% of pre-pandemic levels.
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According to VTS*, U.S. office space touring activity—which is offered as a proxy for space demand—spiked in March of 2023 but still averages 37% below its pre-pandemic level. Among the cities covered, New York shows the highest demand recovery; just 25% lower than 2019. Seattle and San Francisco are tied at 51% lower than 2019.
In spite of the March spike, VTS suggests that most markets are showing signs of stability.
*VTS claims to have market insights on office demand that covers 99% of the nation’s top cities. Their index reflects the total square footage of unique tenant requirements surfaced by touring activity in a given month relative to the total square footage observed in VTS’ expansive network of leasing, marketing, and asset management software.
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Report cites fewer trips, limited approvals, reduced spending
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Based on a Morning Consult survey of over four thousand U.S. adults, business travel inched up last year but is still down 18 percentage points from before the pandemic.
Nearly a third of the survey respondents indicated their company had made changes to their travel policy. They include:
– Fewer business trips: 60%
– Fewer employees who travel: 56%
– Limiting the type of trips: 54%
Other changes include encouraging employees to combine trips, reduced spending on transport, accommodations, food and beverage, and entertainment.
About 40% say reduced travel has been instituted as a cost-saving measure, 20% say it’s the result of greater comfort with virtual meetings.
If this trend continues, it will likely put pressure on companies to upgrade their hybrid meeting technologies and participate in and hold more regional meetings.
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WE Love our 2023 Sponsors! THANK YOU to our GREAT WE sponsors! Your generous support makes our Community, Programs, and Events possible. You inspire us to maximize member value.
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