Normalcy remains elusive for most white-collar employers. By and large, nonessential employees have worked remotely since March of 2020, when the full magnitude of the coronavirus pandemic became impossible to ignore.
That’s beginning to change. One by one, major employers have announced tentative plans to return to the pre-pandemic status quo. Countless smaller employers have followed suit or already returned to more or less normal operations. A tracking poll by Morning Consult finds that nearly seven in ten American workers want to return to in-person work as soon as it’s safe to do so.
Not everyone feels that way, of course. Many of us get along just fine in a home office and are loath to resume our old routines, with all the politics and distractions they entail.
But even the most enthusiastic remote workers know a good shared workspace when they see one. If you’re reluctant to get back to the grind after Covid, maybe your employer needs to up its game. You’d surely want to go back to the office if it looked like any of these amazing spaces.
1. Gusto, San Francisco
HR startup Gusto is disrupting the way the business of work gets done. No wonder its San Francisco office is widely regarded as a top place to, well, work. Occupying 50,000 square feet of space on the city’s historic Pier 70, Gusto’s headquarters is more quaint wholesale market than bustling tech workspace. A vaulted, part-glass ceiling with soaring trusses allows for ample natural light and plenty of (literal) breathing room — a must in the post-Covid world.
2. Yieldstreet, Manhattan
On the other side of the country, fintech startup Yieldstreet’s Midtown Manhattan digs occupy a stunning, fully re-renovated space overlooking Park Avenue (complete with a balcony boasting views of the iconic thoroughfare). Close to Grand Central Station and several subway lines, it’s near the nerve center of the most dynamic city in America — and a hub for a second-to-none employee culture featuring group workouts, happy hours, lecture series, and outings.
3. Googleplex, Mountain View
Two swimming pools. Eighteen cafeterias. Three laundry rooms. An entire fleet of WiFi-enabled buses serving two million square feet of top-shelf office space.
Like the vast number it references, Google’s original headquarters is huge. It’s also seen as one of the best places to work in Silicon Valley, a high bar to clear in the region that redefined employee perks for the millennial generation. And with Google on track to resume full-time in-person work in the third quarter of 2021, it’s about to get much busier.
4. Bark, Columbus
BARK designs and manufactures premier dog products. It’s no wonder that its Ohio headquarters consistently earns plaudits as the country’s most dog-friendly workplace.
“Dog-friendly” is an understatement, actually. Employees’ furry friends have full freedom to roam just about anywhere at BARK HQ, with cozy nooks and engaging play spaces taking priority over shared desks and cubicles for boring humans.
5. Amazon, Seattle
The United States’ biggest online retailer also operates one of its biggest contiguous urban work campuses, a sprawling collection of far-out offices in Seattle’s trendy South Lake Union neighborhood. Yet, in keeping with its home city’s laid-back culture, Amazon’s campus keeps a surprisingly low profile. You’d walk right through the place were it not for the telltale Spheres, a set of eye-catching geodesic domes in the midst of it all.
6. Vital Proteins, Chicago
Health supplements maker Vital Proteins promotes its West Loop headquarters as a “California-style” workspace with an unmistakable Windy City vibe. The sunny two-story atrium, meandering boardwalk, and plant-draped “green walls” certainly have a year-round coastal flavor, even when it’s snowing outside.
Back to Normal…In Style
The initial panic that the pandemic would spell doom for the office real estate market has not been borne out, fortunately. While Covid has undoubtedly weakened demand for office space in the U.S. and beyond, it no longer appears to be an existential threat. Brian Robb of the Forbes Real Estate Council expects the Class A office market to bounce back especially well in the months and years ahead, even as demand for Class C space remains low.
What does this mean for the average professional who loves them a beautiful shared office space? Only that such spaces will continue to flourish for the foreseeable future, creating near-endless opportunities for productive enjoyment. And that’s one thing more to look forward to as we put Covid behind us.
from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/business/these-6-company-workspaces-will-make-you-want-to-go-back-to-the-office-post-covid/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=these-6-company-workspaces-will-make-you-want-to-go-back-to-the-office-post-covid
No comments:
Post a Comment