Hassell’s 2024 Workplace Futures Survey, The Big Calm, is out. After many years of disruption, the survey points to the arrival of calmness, not only in workplace patterns but also in what employees want from a workplace.

For example, they want the flexibility to choose when they come into the office, they want more quiet space for focused work or group collaboration, and access to tranquil amenities like greenery, fresh air, good coffee, and even somewhere to take nap, over trendy ones like doggy daycare or concierges.

However, there is still a sizeable gap between what offices are providing and employees want. Particularly when it comes to providing spaces that support focused work or collaboration – especially among workplaces over-optimised on open plan.

The workplace has entered a period of global stability. For the first time since our survey began in 2020, we’ve seen global convergence in the current state of the workplace as office workers double down on working patterns defined by flexibility, freedom and fresh air.

The big swings in the number of people working from home or the office and the significant shifts in workplace policies have settled across global markets. Similarly, people’s workplace preferences and priorities have found stability across Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UK, and the US. In this moment of calm, office workers also seek calm - in the form of private meeting spaces and home-like amenities spanning good coffee, green spaces and fresh air.

In 2024, Hassell set out to understand more about what lies ahead, so the practice examined emerging concerns such as climate change, artificial intelligence (AI), and the adaptive reuse of commercial assets. Its expanded data collection anticipates what’s on the horizon. 

Key take aways from the study include: 

• Workplace patterns are converging globally: This year’s survey highlights a global convergence in workplace patterns, with policies and behaviours now stabilising across Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UK and the US.

• Hybrid is here to stay: The era of five days a week in an office is over.

• Offices are over-optimised on open plan: while open plan spaces make up a large portion of layouts, they are increasingly underutilised, as workers instead seek out spaces built for collaboration or peace and quiet to undertake focused work.

• Meeting rooms are being used as a stop gap to meet these needs: 30 percent of the time, meeting rooms are occupied by only one person, and despite accounting for a small portion of office floor plans, are highly coveted spaces for workers.

• Workers are largely not satisfied with the spaces their workplace provides: only 23% feel they have enough space to focus, and 35% feel there is enough space for collaboration.

• Slowly but surely, companies are starting to respond:14% have added meeting rooms and 12% have expanded social / eating spaces.

By publishing this report, Hassell hopes to give organisations the confidence to be decisive in this moment of calm and to focus on the challenges ahead rather than the turmoil of the past.

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