Industry News — SHIFT Interiors

Industry News from Leading Publications

Browse some of our favorite articles about what’s going on in the world of work.

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02.09.2023
The Future Of Flex Spaces: Co-Everything
[All Work] Bringing people together and building community has always been central to the coworking experience. The idea of what it means to share space is broadening, and the future of space-as-a-service (SaaS) is entering a new phase. Welcome to the new age of co-everything.

01..2023
6 Things Gen Z Employees Want Their Managers To Know About The Workplace In 2023
[Entrepreneur] Regardless of the age dynamic or organizational rank, the business world is a lot different than what it was a decade or so ago — and for Gen Z, a generation that has never known a world without the internet, the workplace is now something they're quickly reshaping.

06.2022
How to Build a Thriving Corporate Culture in a Hybrid World
[Inc.] “Implement employee-centered design, shift digital behavior and put physical and mental wellbeing first.”

birdseye view of a crosswalk with pedestrians crossing — 04.18.2022
Can’t Sit Still: Why Is Understanding Your Office’s “Foot Traffic” So Important?
[Allwork] You can track your workspace’s foot traffic by analyzing sign in data and by integrating your access control systems with occupancy sensors placed in various locations around the building, such as in meeting rooms.

Two people converse at a table in a loft-style office with their laptops open in front of them — 02.08.2022
How Workplace Design Is Evolving To Foster More Meaningful Team Interactions
[CEO Magazine] Leading architects explain how the workplace is evolving to foster a greater sense of community and more meaningful team interactions.

01.2022
How Can Workspaces Reduce Waste At The Design Stage?
[Work Design Magazine] What’s the single most important thing the workspace design sector should be doing right now to improve our chances of creating an environmentally sustainable future?

11.2021
Are We Finally Leaving The Wasteful Linear Economy Behind?
The circular economy is becoming an increasingly popular concept around the world. But what does it mean? How does it differ from our “traditional” linear economy? How will it impact our world as we recover from the pandemic?

10.26.2021
Smart Buildings and Wellbeing Are Driving the Future of Workplace Design (IFMA 2021)
[Buildings.com] Buildings aren’t what they used to be. Neither is the workplace. Both have been challenged by a pandemic that forced people to reconsider the traditional work model and what they expect from the places in which work is conducted.

10.06.2021
A Truly Diverse And Inclusive Workplace Starts With An Inclusive Benefit Design
[Forbes] The traditional approach to benefit design is no longer sufficient in supporting an increasingly diverse workforce. Benefits packages, along with compensation and culture, have long been a crucial component of the total rewards package we offer as employers. They’re often the deciding factor as to whether an employee stays or leaves, or whether an employer can attract top talent.

09.27.2021
Designing Offices To Address Introverts’ Re-Entry Anxieties
[Forbes] The emergence of the Delta variant has managed to buy employers, designers and office building owners extra time to consider how best to eventually bring office workers back to the workplace. Those considering every aspect of the matter may have pondered how to lure employees who loved working at home, not because they didn’t like to commute but because they are introverts who function best in social isolation.

08.04.2021
Why is Coworking Booming?
[D Magazine] The largest coworking players suffered colossal losses in 2020, but the market is expected to bounce back by the end of the year and see significant gains by 2025.

06.07.2021
How Millennials Are Reshaping Pandemic-Era Offices
[Commercial Observer] With millennials expected to make up three quarters of the U.S. labor force by 2025, office designers, employers and landlords are forced to reckon with how they can recruit and satisfy workers between the ages of 25 and 40.

05.14.2021Considering neurodiversity to create better, more productive workplaces[The Fifth Estate] HOK director of global Workplace practice, Kay Sargent, talks about accessibility for neurodiverse employees and how universal design can benefit all. — 05.14.2021
Considering neurodiversity to create better, more productive workplaces
[The Fifth Estate] HOK director of global Workplace practice, Kay Sargent, talks about accessibility for neurodiverse employees and how universal design can benefit all.

04.12.2021Why Flexible Space Is Making A Comeback[Biz Journals] Flexible office space has had quite a ride. The coworking boom that sat hipsters and bankers on adjacent stools at office coffee bars ended abruptly last year when the pandemic emptied out offices across the globe. — 04.12.2021
Why Flexible Space Is Making A Comeback
[Biz Journals] Flexible office space has had quite a ride. The coworking boom that sat hipsters and bankers on adjacent stools at office coffee bars ended abruptly last year when the pandemic emptied out offices across the globe.

01.30.2023
Workplace Revolution: The Rise Of The Office Pod
[Dealer Support] Co-working and hot-desking are the buzzwords of the day, with contemporary offices striving to create a home-from-home, and to offer dynamic work settings which can facilitate different types of work. However, not every office is suited to having a bar over here, and beanbags over there, and not every workplace wants people lounging around chatting loudly while others are trying to concentrate. As employers look to entice people back to the office, they’re starting to think ‘outside the box’ – and ‘inside the pod’.

12.12.2022
Workers Want Companies That Care About ESG—Here's How To Leverage Their Passion
[Quartz] The role of values and purpose in attracting and retaining talent has become increasingly important when considering business priorities. With corporations, both big and small, articulating some form of ESG goals, there is an opportunity to tap into the passion employees have for the subject and create real movement in achieving these goals alongside other business objectives.

Workstations aligned in an elaborate, historic space, perhaps a former church, library or bank — 06.2022
Coming Back To The Office? Your Workplace Design Should Be A Perk
[Work Design Magazine] Experts “explain how a residential and hospitality-inspired workplace design can become a powerful way to boost morale and get employees back to the office.”

two rows of palm trees along a street in California — 04.15.2022
California Considers the Four-Day Workweek
[Wall Street Journal] Companies and governments around the world have been debating that question recently, driven by a tight labor market along with workers seeking more flexibility. A proposal in the California State Legislature would define the workweek in the state as 32 hours, not 40, for larger companies.

02.14.2022
Working From Home Or Back In The Office – What’s Better For The Environment?
[Allwork] Research indicates that although remote work can be more environmentally-friendly, any gains are often offset by large office buildings sitting empty for days or being underutilized.

12.09.2021
Biophilic Design Is Part Of The New Normal (And We’re Not Just Talking Office Plants)
[Allwork] Biophilic design aims to improve our wellbeing by strengthening our connection to nature in manufactured environments such as offices. Biophilic design is increasingly popular because studies show it may improve productivity and reduce stress.

10.2021
Workplace Branding: Integrating Culture And Marketing In The New Normal
[Work Design Magazine] As the pandemic lingers and employees slowly return to the office, executives’ foremost responsibility is to ensure that proper health and safety protocols are in place. At the same time, we have an opportunity to reflect on workplace culture, branding, and marketing to foster long-term success.

09.09.2021
What Will The Post-pandemic Office Look Like? 6 Changes To Expect
[Today] For many people, the pandemic caused a sudden switch from going to an office everyday to working from home. Employees found there were definitely some perks of the setup, like not having to commute, getting to wear cozy clothes all day and being home with their loved ones and fur babies. Some even found themselves being more productive in the peace and quiet of their own home. But at the same time, many have yearned for the social aspects of being in an office with coworkers again.

08.2021
Hospitality Design Cues Make The Return To The Workplace Easier
In the past year, employees have faced unprecedented personal and professional struggles. The pandemic has given business leaders increased visibility into employee’s personal lives. They are asked to shift from managing employee’s job to managing work experience. Supporting employees in their personal lives more effectively enables employees to have better lives and perform at a higher level. Companies are learning the expertise from the hospitality industry to better anticipate and address employee needs.

06.06.2021
To Bring People Back, Your Office Must Change: Here’s How
[Forbes] We are in the midst of nothing less than a talent revolution and the war for talent is on. You’ll need to work harder now to differentiate your organization—to attract, retain and engage people. And unless you’re one of the minority of businesses going fully remote, your office is a key part of the value equation you offer employees.

05.2021
Progressive Workplace Design In A Post-Pandemic World
[Work Design Magazine] As the world continues to mull over when and how we will return to “normal” life again, a large part of the discussion involves the return to the workplace. Tenants, landlords and design professionals alike are wondering how many days a week people will visit the office, how far apart they will sit, how amenities should be used, what common space design will look like, and more. Ultimately, we will want to be together again, but how do we do so in a way that makes people feel both productive and safe?

04.2021Digital Nomads Influencing Design: From Empty Lobbies To Community Hubs[Work Design Magazine] Digital nomads are those who have the unique ability to work from anywhere. While we often imagine the traditional digital nomad working from an exotic tropical destination, a new form of digital nomadism is emerging—one where people are not wandering far from home. Today, we see a wave of digital nomads whose lifestyles don’t necessarily allow them to work from paradise. Instead, they’re setting up at a coffee shop down the street or a community park with access to WiFi. With the rise of the “work from anywhere” movement, fewer people will return to the office in favor of working from home permanently and becoming digital nomads themselves. — 04.2021
Digital Nomads Influencing Design: From Empty Lobbies To Community Hubs
[Work Design Magazine] Digital nomads are those who have the unique ability to work from anywhere. While we often imagine the traditional digital nomad working from an exotic tropical destination, a new form of digital nomadism is emerging—one where people are not wandering far from home. Today, we see a wave of digital nomads whose lifestyles don’t necessarily allow them to work from paradise. Instead, they’re setting up at a coffee shop down the street or a community park with access to WiFi. With the rise of the “work from anywhere” movement, fewer people will return to the office in favor of working from home permanently and becoming digital nomads themselves.

01.17.2023
5 Ways Office Design Can Make You Happier
[Fast Company] A growing body of evidence suggests that designing spaces in specific ways–lights with precise color temperatures of the Kelvin scale, rooms with particular layouts–can trigger the brain’s release of dopamine, a chemical associated with pleasure, and help people be more focused, productive, and happy. Neuroaesthetics is a design approach that can vastly improve the human experience of our built environment.

12.12.2022
How To Make Your Hybrid Office Accessible To All
[All Work] Office sizes, layouts and entrances are changing as organizations solidify their commitment to hybrid work. As these shifts start, many office managers are looking to space-sharing practices to enable trimmed and reconfigured physical footprints. Space sharing is not new to the workplace, but it will soon reach a scale and complexity that has observers feeling wobbly. One domain where the stakes are high for this new era in space sharing is workplace accessibility.

Person walks quickly through office — 06.13.2022
5 Workplace Design Opportunities from ThinkLab
[Metropolis] “Will recent office policy and preference changes trigger a hybrid-work butterfly effect?”

a colorful coffee mug sits next to an open laptop with a virtual meeting talking place — 03.11.2022
Is Remote Work Failing Young Workers?
[Forbes] Research led by associate professor Ashish Malik, head of the management discipline at the University of Newcastle, Australia, concludes the impact of technological disruptions on several workplace innovations in workplace redesign. These include flexible work designs, such as technology-mediated home-based work, remote working, teleworking, co-working, working at third spaces, including Smart Work Hubs, and other flexible work options.

light shines though a window — 02.08.2022
Must-Add Ingredient For Return To The Workplace: Light
[Forbes] If there’s a light at the end of the tunnel for hard-pressed office building owners hoping to see workers return to workplaces, it may be the effective use of natural light. Several years ago, a survey of 1,614 North American employees by human resources advisory firm Future Workplace found availability of natural light and outdoor views respondents’ most desired workplace attribute. It outpolled such perks as on-site dining rooms, fitness facilities and high-end benefits like on-site child care.

01.13.2022
Hoteling is the New Hot-Desking
Hot-desking was not seen as a viable option by many companies back in 2019. Perhaps that was because the concept hadn’t fully matured yet. Rather than forcing people to find a place to sit in a crowded office they should feel like they are checking into their own personal workspace. The next phase in the evolution, “hoteling,” seems to rectify all of hot-desking’s grievances.

11.11.2021
How Design Can Create A More Compassionate Return To The Office
[Allwork]For over a year, companies have been planning and strategizing their return to the office. Many are still figuring out how and when the return will actually take place, let alone what it will look like for employees. As companies, once again, push the date of the return to the office date for early 2022, leaders have a new opportunity to figure out how to motivate and encourage employees to want to go back to the workplace.

10.2021
Designing For Neurodiversity Builds Healthier Workplaces For All
[Work Design Magazine] As people transition from the remote-work norms of pandemic life and return to the office, some organizations are adapting their workplaces to support more collaborative engagement, and better meet the needs of neurodivergent employees.

09.2021
What Do Employees Really Want When They Return To The Office?
[Work Design Magazine] Big questions loom for corporations, organizations, and their employees about the return to the office during this pandemic-induced period of transition. What will it look like? Who will be there? What will draw us to it? What do employees want? What do they need to do their best in this coming post-remote work world?

07.28.2021
Social Clubs Could Be Way To Lure Office Workers Back
[Forbes] As workers trickle back to offices across the U.S., many employers are seeking ways to get their employees psyched about returning to workplaces they fled more than 16 months ago. They would be interested to know about the forecast recently put forth by architecture, design and strategy firm NELSON Worldwide. Its prediction: The future office will evolve to become more like a social club than workplace.

06.06.2021
Neurodiversity And Biophilia: The Future Of The Workspace In The Post-pandemic Era
[ArchDaily] The Coronavirus pandemic demanded new needs and significant changes in our lives: in relationships, at work, in consumption habits, in increasing inequality. Indeed, the theme of workspaces came up in a historical moment when people saw their own freedoms limited for the first time in the postmodern era.

05.2021
The Essential Design Attributes Of Workplace Terraces
[Work Design Magazine] Our desire to get outside is not new. People have been enjoying balconies, terraces and green spaces connected to their workplaces, homes and communities throughout history. For many of us, nothing breaks up the workday’s normal pattern more effectively than taking a moment to step outside. According to University of Minnesota research, “Exposure to nature not only makes you feel better emotionally, it contributes to your physical wellbeing, reducing blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones.”

04.2021The Rise of the Destination-Worthy, Hospitality-Influenced Workplace[Work Design Magazine] Cooper Carry’s Brian Parker shares how the post-pandemic office can find inspiration in hospitality design to become a “destination with intention” that not only draws workers back, but also encourages them to stay together to get work done. — 04.2021
The Rise of the Destination-Worthy, Hospitality-Influenced Workplace
[Work Design Magazine] Cooper Carry’s Brian Parker shares how the post-pandemic office can find inspiration in hospitality design to become a “destination with intention” that not only draws workers back, but also encourages them to stay together to get work done.

01.13.2023
How Offices Are Using Less, Better Space
[Charter] How does your organization get the most out of your office spaces? Where can you save money? And what improvements should you really invest in?

11.29.2022
What Does It Mean To Design The Workplace As An Experience?
[Frame] As we reconsider the role of the office in our everyday lives, there’s a shift towards viewing it as a multifaceted experience rather than a physical place. Hybrid workers expect time spent in the office to be purposeful – as enriching and exciting as living in a great city, soaking up culture, or visiting a live event. How will design respond?

employee works from home with their cat — 06.02.2022
Hybrid Office Design Driven by Flexibility, Equity and Employee Health
[I & S Magazine] “Expectations for the post-pandemic office are being led by employee demands to make their workdays their own, with spaces that adapt to their needs on the fly while supporting equity and health.”

03.07.2022
Bars In Office Buildings: A Reason To Return To The Office, Or One To Never Leave?
[Fast Company] It’s the end of a long day at the office–or perhaps the middle of an even longer day–and you need a drink. For most office workers in cities, there’s a solution not far away. Bars, the inventors of the post-work happy hour, are nearby, and people are often more than willing to make the trek. But what if even the corner bar is a little too far?

01.10.2022
Why Soundproofing Is Crucial For Good Office Design
[Propmodo] Before the pandemic hit almost 22 months ago (yes, it’s been that long), most people spent a majority of their waking hours at work. As workers trickle back to the office after working from home for so long, many are struggling to get work done because of all the racket in the office.

11.14.2021
Return To The Office: Ft Readers Discuss Camaraderie, Collaboration — And Presenteeism
[Financial Times] Divisions, commutes, workloads — and bras — were some of the issues raised by worldwide respondents to an FT reader survey on the return to the office. More than 1,000 readers, from London to Qatar, shared their concerns and hopes. There was optimism about hybrid working, but there was also concern that flexible arrangements could falter because of poor management.

09.30.2021
Resimercial: The Terrible Word for Today’s Trendy Office Aesthetic
[The Atlantic] Domestic touches have become popular in workplace design, further blurring the line between work and home. Look at the style of an office in any given era and you’ll get a glimpse of the defining themes in white-collar workers’ lives at the time.

08.26.2021
Meet The ‘Lomads’: They’re Local, Flexible, And They’re Coming To A Coworking Space Near You
[All Work] For many, when they hear the term nomadic worker, they think of digital nomads. This isn’t surprising. The number of digital nomads actually saw an increase of 50% to 10.9 million digital nomads in the US alone from 2019 to 2020. However, it is important to look wider to a growing group of people that don’t necessarily consider themselves to be a new nomadic or traveling group.

07.2021
Wellness In The “New” Workplace
[Work Design Magazine] As quarantine restrictions have lifted, and companies around the world are bringing their people back to the workplace, we have an extraordinary opportunity. In this moment, we get to redefine how the workplace supports – and in some instances transforms – work culture to the benefit of our businesses and people.

06.2021
Rethinking Universal Design To Build Inclusive Workplaces
[Work Design Magazine] Universal design, by definition, is the design and composition of an environment to be accessed, understood, and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability, or disability. This concept extends to the design of inclusive workplaces that incorporate thoughtful design elements for people of various races, cultural and ethnic heritages, and socio-economic backgrounds, as well as other lesser acknowledged differentiators.

04.23.2021Pandemic Drives Shift In Attitudes To Sustainability[Workplace Insight] The COVID-19 pandemic has elevated consumers' focus on sustainability and willingness to pay out of their own pockets – or even take a pay cut – for a sustainable future, according to a new IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) survey of over 14,000 consumers in nine countries. — 04.23.2021
Pandemic Drives Shift In Attitudes To Sustainability
[Workplace Insight] The COVID-19 pandemic has elevated consumers' focus on sustainability and willingness to pay out of their own pockets – or even take a pay cut – for a sustainable future, according to a new IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) survey of over 14,000 consumers in nine countries.

03.2021Workplace Design, Post-Pandemic[Harvard Business Review] Anne-Laure Fayard, associate professor at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, was studying the effects of workplace design on employees long before the Covid-19 crisis. Now, she says, the trend of flexible schedules and hybrid offices – where some people come in, others work from home, and many do both – is here to stay. This means that businesses need to reimagine offices as places built less for individual knowledge work than for learning, collaboration, and culture-building. — 03.2021
Workplace Design, Post-Pandemic
[Harvard Business Review] Anne-Laure Fayard, associate professor at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, was studying the effects of workplace design on employees long before the Covid-19 crisis. Now, she says, the trend of flexible schedules and hybrid offices – where some people come in, others work from home, and many do both – is here to stay. This means that businesses need to reimagine offices as places built less for individual knowledge work than for learning, collaboration, and culture-building.