The COVID-19 pandemic has forever altered work as we know it. While where works gets done has received the most attention in 2020, we’ve also seen dramatic changes in the type of work that gets done and when, how, and who gets the work done. The changes to the work environment are as extraordinary as we’ve ever seen. 

For example, in a recent poll of 150 CEOs of America’s largest companies, a stunning 85% said they’d be reducing office space in 2021, many by as much as 50%. Not a single CEO said they planned to expand their office space in the coming year (Bigman, D.). This reduction is for good reason; more than half of U.S. employees currently working from home say they'd like to keep their remote arrangements beyond the pandemic and one-third want the option to telework at least sometimes. Only 11% said they rarely or never want to work from home (Parker).

The move to virtual work not only drastically alters entire markets such as commercial real estate, but sparks a cascade of shifts in leadership behaviors, team construction, collaboration norms, gig workers, compensation and benefits, taxation, workforce needs and expectations for flexibility, among other areas.