Change is inevitable as they say, and this includes the latest office design trends. Gone are the days when the main concern is functionality in the office and where workers are treated like some cute animal inside their own cubicles.
Collaboration and shared spaces are the new buzz words in the office design industry. Employers have already realized that workers need to interact a lot with their co-workers in order to work more efficiently. For instance, private spaces are less and public ones are more, where other co-workers can easily overhear their peers meetings, probably to encourage them to contribute something in the process. It also won't be difficult to see offices that save space by allowing workers of different shifts to share the same workstation during the day. This is called hotelling, and is also done when workers are mostly mobile.
Comfort is another keyword in today's office design. Consider that a worker spends more or less 40 hours a week inside the office and outside the home. This means that the office room is already the second home of the workers. Thus, the need to make office space more friendly and accommodating will inspire workers to do better. Some offices that can afford it put up coffee shops, gardens (with the lamp posts, trash cans, and all that), bedrooms, and even meditation rooms to serve the needs of the workers and make the office their home outside their homes.
The office has really undergone a lot of change. From what is functional and good for the employer, the shift is now to what is sociable and healthy for the employees. Indeed, adding amenities for your workers may put some additional costs in the beginning, but this will help you in the long run to preserve whatever talent your manpower has.
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