The Office: The Crowding Game
A Dodge Data & Analytics report recently revealed the average square feet of office space per employee has declined nearly 4% to 195 square feet per employee since early-2010. This is the ratio’s lowest level since mid-2008. The ratio not only includes personal office/cubicle space, but also each employee’s share of public space such as lobbies and conference rooms. The ratio’s nearly six-year decline can possibly be attributed to two key elements. The first relates to the high tech industry, which tends to use space much differently than other industries. This includes more open/collaborative office design as well as increased use of co-space/telecommuting according to Dodge Data & Analytics, a leading provider of data and analytics for the construction industry.
Another factor may be the search for greater cost efficiency among building tenants. A “decent, but not great [economic] pace” has placed continued pressure on firms to grow profits by maintaining the same cost-cutting efforts adopted during the recession. That includes hiring “more temporary employees who don’t require the same office amenities as well as not increasing office space despite increased hiring.
Read the complete report here: marketing construction.