2019 Trend Alert: Office Space

Projected Growth: 1 percent  Source: Dodge Data & Analytics

WordThe number of private office buildings is expected to hold steady in 2019, a trend that’s another by-product of today’s labor shortage and the plethora of millennials in the workplace. In becoming an integral part of the current workforce, millennials have fueled spending, thereby creating the need for more goods and services to meet that demand and in turn making it more difficult to find talented staff.

Attracting and retaining valuable employees is driving much of the design and construction now underway as employers strive to create a work environment that appeals to the majority of today’s workers. The result: offices are taking on a decidedly new look and feel. The millennial generation is one that appreciates collaboration and the social aspects of work, but they also value their own quiet space to focus. They are a generation that tends to work to live, rather than live to work, so incorporating features like a workout space and a gathering spot for social interaction will be key drivers in future design and construction.