BOSTON — How would you feel about returning to the workplace if your office looked more like your home?
Companies across the Boston area and other major cities across the U.S. are hoping to create an environment that people want to come back to when it’s safe.
In some cases the changes are happening quietly inside office buildings in preparation for a post pandemic world.
Watertown-based Sasaki design firm is seeing this trend of companies across several industries investing in big, long term changes.
“If you look at very large companies. Even if they say, you can work from home indefinitely, many of them are gathering up large spaces of office space and quietly renovating them,” said Elizabeth von Goeler, Chair of External Relations at Sasaki.
Von Goeler said some of the transformations resemble something similar to people’s living rooms. Others look more like hotel lobbies.
“We know now that we’ve been home, there’s many different ways we can focus,” explained von Goeler. “Personally, I love to sit on a couch with my laptop, kick up my feet and relax.”
From cozy seating arrangements to wood finishes to open spaces, the reimagined workspaces are a major contrast from the traditional office cubicle.
Von Goeler told Boston 25 News companies choosing to invest have been seizing unique opportunities in the Boston market.
“The amount the landlord is giving you to build out your space is increasing,” she said. “They’re able to put together larger groups of space and renovate that.”
The evolving office spaces are a continuation of a trend that was starting to take off pre-pandemic.
“It’s the empowerment that gives people the choice where they can do their best work when they’re in the office,” said Julia Georgules, Senior Director of Research for JLL’s East Coast and Canada region.
Georgules, who’s based in Boston, said the majority of employees JLL surveyed want to come back to the workplace for at least a portion of the week.
She believes companies are recognizing the importance of offering a transformed environment to fit those needs.
“I think the challenge with a lot of people working from home, they’re not set up to be as productive,” said Georgules. “That’s the one value proposition of having that workplace to come into because you know you’re going to be able to do your best work.”
Most corporations have still been slow to announce definitive timelines for their expected return to the office, and it’s yet to be seen how long it will take until a majority of the U.S. population is vaccinated.
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