Workplace 2005

As vast as these changes in the workplace seem, there are even more changes to come. One of the most apparent differences will be the physical size of the workplace. Forty-six percent of chief information officers (CIOs) in one recent study cited by OfficeTeam said offices will be smaller in 2005. The big benefit of that change is clear: lower real estate costs for entrepreneurs. But the forces behind it may be less obvious.

One is the general shift toward a customer-focused business model many industries have adopted. "You don't want a big headquarters operation anymore," Challenger says. "You want your people out at the customers' sites, working on their problems. You don't want them sitting in an office."

Another office-shrinking force is the popularity of flexible work arrangements, including telecommuting, which gives workers more freedom at the cost of providing in-home office space. One-third of U.S. workers will telecommute at least part of the time by 2005, according to a study cited by OfficeTeam.

Employers will also be more flexible with nonteleworkers. Challenger sees hoteling, a cost-saving measure which calls for two or more workers to share the same office, as becoming so popular that corporate hotels will spring up to rent generic office space to individuals from different companies at the same time.

As they shrink, offices will feature more meeting areas to facilitate teamwork and moveable, modular furniture to fit fast-changing work styles. "You're going to have to accommodate work teams as well as telecommuters," says Taylor. "So you'll want open, flexible space."

This article was originally published in the November 1999 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Workplace 2005.