Overview
BSRIA is delighted to have launched its Workplaces of the Future publication which was written by workplace student: Ashleigh Bunker. This insightful report contemplates the office needs and desires from the perspective of the youth of today aka millennials and generation z. The work was carried out as part of BSRIA’s INSPIRE project which works with local schools, national and local politicians and the media to promote STEM and change its perceptions.
The report considers how the advancement of digital technologies is changing the way we work. Collaboration technologies are ushering a next-generation workplace that is more productive, efficient and delivers meaningful cost savings to organisations of all sizes across the globe.
The office of the future may not even need to be a workplace in the accepted sense of the word. With new and more advanced mobile devices, giving employees the freedom to work from anywhere, these technologies will continue to reshape the look and feel of the ‘office’.
BSRIA has the corporate vision of “making buildings better”, but with the changing workplace what form will the office of the future take, what will be the expectation of the occupiers and what will be the impact for designers, developers and those managing the workplace environment?
Ashleigh researched:
• How the workplace environment will affect the career choices of different generations.
• How the needs of the different generations will need to be met in the transitioning years.
• The benefits of providing a new workplace environment that meets the expectations of the millennial generation and beyond.
And looked at: the history of office layouts; offices of today; the next 10 years and next steps.
Some key findings:
• Technology has also affected what millennials are like as employees. Generally, they want instant results making them more action orientated. Where the previous ideology is more “eventually you get your dues”, millennials want to work hard quickly and see results as equally as fast. This passion for instant results may make them seem impatient to older generations, but businesses will have to accommodate such characteristics.
• When generation Z walks into the office, they want to feel pride in their workplace not only for the design but also for the flexibility it will allow them. With the flexibility to work from anywhere, one will be working in a virtual world with colleagues in other countries and still be a in a functioning business. However, a problem on the horizon is that the future offices could be too laid back, some current co-working environments are even offering beer for their employees on week days!
• Research shows that millennials don’t want to work for any company, they would prefer to earn less and work for a company with strong passions and morals.
• Make the office “look good”, if there is not an inspiring environment the workers will not have pride in their workplace nor will they feel inspired to work.
Workplaces of the Future
In the summer of 2016, as part of the BSRIA INSPIRE programme, BSRIA continued its tradition of building and sharing knowledge by recruiting a 17-year old summer intern (Ashleigh) to give her experience in the professional workplace. Ashleigh was also given the chance to undertake this report.
• Generation X is defined as anyone between 1960 – 1980.
• Generation Y also known as millennials, are people born from 1980 – 2000.
• Generation Z is anyone born after the year 2000.