Office of the Future

Abstract

Restrictions from the covid pandemic are lifted. However, the office remains changed, the hybrid way of working seems to stick. Employees want flexibility and choose when to work from home and when they work in the office. The norm of a hybrid work week is working three days in the office and two days from home. Resulting in office space that is not used as much as before the pandemic. Therefore organizations are looking into reducing their office space (Syme, P., 2023).

When considering the reduction of office space, it is also important to consider an organization’s employees. In this research, the focus lies on the impact space reduction might have on the perceived productivity of the employees. The focus on productivity is due to the impact productivity has on the performance of an organization (Aziri, 2011). If office space is reduced and the office therefore has a higher occupancy level, what does this do to the employee productivity? According to research done by Center for People and Buildings (2023), a higher occupancy level in the working environment results in employees being less satisfied with the availability of workplaces. With a higher occupancy, employees are forced to have video meetings in the open workspace, while other employees/colleagues are doing concentration work in the same space at the same time (Center for People and Buildings, 2023). Looking at these uncertainties, the main research question therefore is: ‘How can global pharmaceutical companies reduce their office space in the Netherlands while still maintaining perceived employee productivity?’. The research focuses on global pharmaceutical companies that are reducing their office space. The focus lies on these companies, in order to define the research on a specific branch and due to the timeframe. In order to answer the research question, the research starts with a literature study. After the literature study, a series of case studies including interviews are done on global pharmaceutical companies. These companies have already experienced an office reduction and are planning on implementing a second reduction within the same project or with another project. The case studies provide insight into potential challenges concerning office reduction and maintaining employee productivity. After analyzing the case studies a cross case study analysis has been done. With the insights from the cross case analysis solutions have been found on how global pharmaceutical companies have tried to successfully reduce office space while keeping employee productivity. The research can help organizations with the decision-making on their office use.