Why 1 in 3 think the humble office is doomed

The workplace of the future will look less like an office and more like a multi-purpose apartment or leisure park, according to Microsoft.

Why 1 in 3 think the humble office is doomed
Our future workspace is set to evolve into a mixed environment where we can relax and play, according to a new Microsoft report ­– but there’s a decent chance that the majority of your staff won’t be there to use it, anyway.
 
Microsoft has conducted a quantitative survey of 1027 people aged 18-65, in collaboration with global 
research firm Ipsos.
 
The resulting report, ‘Life on demand: How technology is transforming daily life’, revealed that one in three believe that within 10 short years, we won’t have to go into the office any more.
 
Further, the modern workplace will look “less like a traditional office and instead, embrace influences from our home lives and places where we relax and play, such as the local café”, said report co-author, Dr Rebecca Huntley.
 
“Future workspaces may not even be an office; for an increasingly mobile workforce, it will be wherever best enables the job to get done,” she said.
 
Trend forecasters Future Laboratory, who first predicted the ‘Bleisure’ trend in 2008, added that the workspace of the future will have the aesthetic and atmosphere of a “multi-purpose apartment or leisure park”.
 
“When you look at the most progressive workspace designs, very few of them look like offices,” they said.
 
“We will always have buildings that provide quiet areas for focused thought, but increasingly zoned areas in which workers can alternate between business and leisure will become the mainstay.”
 
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