IRVINE, CA-Reducing real estate costs is the top motivator for workplace change initiatives, according to Rick Cleveland, managing director, research and strategy, for Cushman & Wakefield. As GlobeSt.com reported earlier this week, the firm recently held a global office forecast webinar here that focused on office markets worldwide, and Cleveland was among the research specialists presenting.

“From the occupier perspective, the predominant issue facing corporations today is what to do with the workplace—workplace transformation,” said Cleveland. “This means how should they change the work environment to optimize productivity, efficiency and cost?”

A C&W global survey of occupiers looked at what was driving some of their decisions to take on these types of initiatives and change programs. The survey revealed that the top five factors driving workplace change initiatives were:

1. to reduce real estate costs
2. to attract and retain employees
3. to increase communication and collaboration
4. to increase employee productivity
5. to increase creativity and innovation.

“The pace of workplace change is robust,” said Cleveland. In fact, in North America, 40.2% of respondents said they were currently implementing a change program, 25.1% said they were planning one and less than 35% were not considering a change program.

Higher density is the most direct way for companies to lower their real estate costs, and trying to reduce the number of square feet per person is a real goal for many firms, Cleveland said. “By 2010, the average number of square feet per person globally was 225 square feet. From our survey of CRE executives, we expect by the end of this year the majority of corporations will be around 150 square feet per employee. In five years, over half of respondents indicated that they expect global corporations will reach about 100 square feet per person.”

Corporations are reaching these numbers through a variety of methods, including hoteling and work-from-home and mobility strategies, the survey showed. The increase in collaborative and common space seen in the new workplace designs will offset some of the reduction in space per person. “But as the corporate economy begins to recovery, we may see less than average demand for more real estate. That's something we need to take into account when we see where demand will be in the next couple of years.”