We are witnessing the beginning of the great evolution of the office, which has us contemplating the future of workspaces. Creating offices that complement the many ways we all work best is no easy task. We believe the next couple of years will bring the foundational shifts needed to get the changes we all crave.

1. Workplaces will look to integrators and solutions that unify data from multiple applications to reduce technology vendors and make using office systems more straightforward, intuitive, and less stressful for employees.

2. Offices will shrink, but how they handle it will depend on where they are in their lease life cycle. If they have a lease event coming up, they will try to reduce the square footage. If not, they will turn to sublet or perhaps a de-centralized WeWork approach to get revenue from unused spaces.

3. The average age of a US CEO is 57, and they are exiting roles faster than ever, and this might be great news for the future of hybrid work. Many of these seasoned CEOs have been very vocal about preferring in-house office work and frustrated with return to office outcomes. Generational differences are a leading cause of friction around remote versus in-office work.

4. Hybrid work will continue to evolve with significant gains in employee engagement and inclusion. Flexibility based on role/team needs will become more mainstream as it becomes even more essential to attracting and retaining top talent. The most significant changes will come from how we use technology to engage people wherever they are and bring them together in a blended digital environment that creates a new sense of community and inclusion.

5. Employee wellness will rise to the top priority for human resources professionals. They will need tools to help them understand what their workforce needs most from employers, workplaces, and resources.

6. The human-centric design will take center stage in most technology workplace applications, which means data and insights will be essential in making any workplace design decisions – both physically and digitally.

7. Suburban office parks will offer unique opportunities to develop smaller "urban-like" environments where large, virtually empty office parks become whole communities with on-site living, working, and entertainment spaces. These spaces will adopt some larger companies' space management and engagement practices.