ATLANTA-Locally based CoreNet Global and Georgia State University, in concert with Findland-based Aalto University, recently surveyed 271 real estate and business executives around the globe to assess how much the physical set-up of workplaces is changing. 

The February 2010 survey questioned managers of various- sized companies in a range of industries on how they arranged their work places, although Michael Anderson, manager of the CoreNet Global Research and Knowledge Center in Atlanta, declined to give specific company names.

What the researchers found was that although green technology has captured the headlines as some companies strive toward LEED certification, or make other environmentally-friendly real estate decisions, this is not the norm. Mostly, in the corporate world, according to the survey, the way real estate is used has more to do with saving money than saving the environment, although sometimes those two goals coincide.

Unless a company gets a government grant which will help it become greener, says Anderson, or sustainable technology makes sense from an employee-retention standpoint, it will concentrate more on creating flexible workspaces than retrofitting existing buildings with green technology. Of course, if a company can document energy efficiencies, it will follow a greener path because that saves money, he says.  But it is also true, according to the survey, says Anderson, that Europeans are more ”sustainability friendly” than are Americans.

In the survey, 71% of the respondents reported that their companies did have a formal real estate strategy, an indication that they believe that the wise use of real estate can contribute to the bottom line.

Many companies are trying to save space, which is easier today than in the past, because workers are more mobile, and therefore spend less time in the office. Having an open workspace is one way to save space and create what Anderson calls a more collaborative environment. This kind of arrangement is gaining ground throughout the world, he says.

Today, there are many open offices which have more glass than walls, thereby allowing for more natural light to flow into the office, says Anderson. But if people need quiet in an office which affords little privacy and noise control, they can often go into so-called quiet rooms or multiple conference rooms where different noise levels are allowed, including some rooms in which workers may talk quietly.

Not only are open work spaces gaining traction today, according to the survey, sometimes employees don't have their own landlines or desks, but must share with other employees, especially if the job keeps the employee on the road much of the time, says Anderson. It is also not uncommon for a worker, who doesn't have his own desk or landline, to be issued a company cell phone.

“Most people, especially the younger generation, know how to work from anywhere,” says Anderson. “Plus, with companies employing more temporary workers and using them on a contractual basis, this kind of set-up (in which employees do not have their own personal space) is not perceived as an obstacle by the younger generation,” he says.

For all the changes which are taking place in the workplace, says Anderson, one thing that hasn’t changed is that companies still try to make their offices physically accessible to their employees' homes, locating them near major roadways or other forms of transportation.