Hartford Business Journal

26 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 By Hanna Snyder Gambini hgambini@hartfordbusiness.com A s businesses continue to push more workers back to the office, at least for a few days a week, companies that furnish and help design workplaces say they are seeing an uptick in business. But industry challenges still remain, with significant amounts of empty office space in Connecticut and nationwide. Office design and furniture firms that have a diversified customer base are faring better. At least one local office furniture company has even reinvented its business to cope with the pandemic's impact on workspace demand. Olivia Powers, a workplace designer for Hartford-based Infinity Group, said the need for office furnishings and redesign slowed in 2020, amid the height of the pandemic, but activity "is definitely picking up." Infinity Group has grown in both staff and As companies downsize their office footprints, they are also re-imagining the look and feel of the workplace to make them more inviting to employees reluctant to return to the office. Evolving Workplace Office furniture dealers, design firms adapt to employers' changing workspace desires communal workspaces to encourage collaboration when workers are in the office. "We're definitely seeing more people come back to the office, but companies are recognizing that hybrid is here to stay, and that works to our advantage," Powers said. Back to work, by the numbers Commercial real estate services and investment firm CBRE conducted an office occupier sentiment survey this spring with insights from 207 corporate real estate executives. Sixty-five percent of respondents said their companies are requiring employees to return to the office. Leading the way are financial and professional services firms, with 71% requiring a return to the office more than half the week. However, office space generally remains underutilized, and a majority of employers are adopting a hybrid work model. Recently released data from the Flex Index — compiled by hybrid workplace software company Scoop — found that only 39% of U.S. companies require their employees to be in the office five days a week, down from 49% at the start of the year. That percentage is expected to decline dramatically to 15% or less in the coming years, according to the report. U.S. office tenants vacated 40 million square feet more than they occupied during the first six months How many office days are required by U.S. employers that offer a hybrid work model? Note: According to the third quarter 2023 Flex Index Report, compiled by Scoop, 61% of U.S. companies offer work location flexibility, while 39% of employers require workers to be in the office five days a week. Source: 3Q 2023 Flex Index Report PHOTOS | CONTRIBUTED Olivia Powers revenue since 2020, "and we're not seeing a slowdown," she said. Driving growth is the desire by many employers to shrink their office footprints under the new hybrid work model, which has led to fewer workers in the office at any one time. Office space redesigns are also happening more frequently (every three to five years today for some employers vs. 10 to 15 years in the past), Powers said, and are competing with the comfort and privacy that workers enjoy at home. Some companies are doing away with individual desks for each worker and encouraging the use of shared spaces, more cozy workstations with couches or armchairs, and private rooms that workers can utilize when they seek a quiet place. Companies are also creating more Days in office 1 2 3 4 % of employers 5% 39% 51% 5%

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