HOK’s WorkPlace group has released “The New Financial Workplace,” a report that investigates the forces reshaping the financial industry and suggests how workplace design can position these companies for success.
“The New Financial Workplace” provides information on the unique threats and challenges facing the industry, with a special focus on how new technologies like cryptocurrency, biometrics and blockchain are disrupting the sector. In the near future, the rapid convergence of technology and financial services will force financial services companies, who are being challenged by emerging fintech companies, to adopt the cultures and workplace design practices of the technology industry.
The report explores the “talent imperative”—the need for these financial companies to use their space to attract the best people and change their cultures to support the needs of tomorrow’s workers.
Also included are key takeaways from HOK’s recent global workplace survey of corporate real estate executives in the financial industry. The survey showed that 85 percent of participants have global workplace programs and 66 percent have formal distributed work programs for which they monitor and track space utilization. The survey also revealed that 84 percent lease space. With 90 percent of the respondents leveraging use of some form of free addressing, unassigned space is on the rise.
The financial sector has been at the forefront of the workplace evolution, perhaps only trailing the technology industry. As the nature of financial work continues to evolve, the workplace is adjusting along with it.