The traditional workplace environment is changing — and not just because you probably go for a iced Starbucks coffee instead of a plain cup of water from the cooler, or because you’re forced to listen to your coworkers talk on their cellphones all day and you get to know their personal lives a little more than you’d prefer.
The office space, on the most fundamental level, is changing simply because it’s starting to disappear.
Recent studies have found that employees and employers alike are benefiting from alternative and unique office solutions that don’t involve the normal gray cubicles; more importantly, the research just keeps coming in that says a lot of businesses don’t even want to have a permanent office at all. Instead, more businesses are choosing to let their employees work from home and then simply rent a temporary office space when it’s needed.
Don’t believe us? Take a look at the following statistics:
- One study of 1,000 businesses found that 65% of managers already allow employees to work remotely, and around the same percentage of employers agree that telecommuting has major benefits for the workplace.
- 80% of American workers consider it a benefit to work remotely, and in fact, it’s sometimes reason enough to quit a job and go elsewhere. Around 14% of Americans admit that they’ve changed jobs just because the commute was too long, while 46% of companies that have recently implemented a telecommuting option state that they’ve seen a decrease in employee attrition.
- As far as productivity goes, there’s no doubt that working from home is great for creativity and efficiency. Employees working from home typically spend 60% of the time working that would normally be used for commuting, and 60% of companies say that a telework program has reduced operating costs.
And of course, when you do need an office for meetings or projects, there’s always the option of renting a temporary office space. You get to use these fully furnished offices when you need them, not worry about paying for them when you don’t need them, and your business gets all the benefits of allowing employees to work remotely while still having temporary office space solutions available.
