Employees are in the driver's seat': How employers are trying to lure people back to the office
22/02/2024
Office Space Renovations Imagine you were building an office tower when the pandemic hit and Canada's offices were frozen in time. Heck, imagine you were building two of them in the middle of downtown Toronto, proper trophy towers for a big bank, and then for a while at least, nobody went to offices at all. They weren't even allowed to. And then office workers started saying they might not want to ever go back, not like before anyway. What would you do? What might you change for the new normal?
Spring has sprung at the post-pandemic office. All across North America, big corporate offices are like dry riverbeds after the rain. Last week it was Google. This week it will be Apple. TD just announced plans.
The mood is vibrant but tense, with one recent poll showing 81 per cent of Toronto area office workers posted to their homes are happier that way. More than half say they would be comfortable returning to the office in some way, but they are not terribly keen on it, and everyone seems to agree that the old ways of office attendance are gone like the snows of yesteryear.
The first Toronto office tower to open post lockdown, CIBC SQUARE on Bay Street across from the Scotiabank Arena, is very nice, the kind of place you might like to spend a day, even a whole work week. The National Post spent a morning there to see plenty of reasons why, all chosen and designed with care, and then rethought and fine-tuned under the wild pressure of a global pandemic that threatened the very concept of the office itself.
Despite high productivity levels while working from home, as shown in the U.K. and Canada, some experts worry about burnout as increased productivity can lead to more stress.
Working from home is more productive than going to the office, U.K. data shows.
Lying in a hospital bed and recovering from his heart attack, Jonathan Frostick posted a photo of himself to LinkedIn and resolved to change the way he was living and working. His post has since gone viral.
I'm not spending all day on zoom anymore': Heart attack prompts man's viral rules for living
The pandemic sparked a massive forced experiment, said Jonathan Pearce, executive vice president of leasing and development at Ivanho Cambridge, which broke ground on this first CIBC SQUARE tower in 2017, and is now building the second nearby across the railway tracks to the north.
This experiment, about what an office tower should be like after a pandemic, demonstrated what Pearce calls a fusion of asset classes. Just as retail merges with logistics, so too does office space merge with hospitality.
So the basic strategy was to make these new office towers more pleasant to be in. Pearce said they tried to pivot their offerings to focus more on the office experience, on what you don't have at home.
I don't think people are going to come in to sit on Zoom calls. Companies and landlords are naive if they expect that to happen, Pearce said. We were headed the right way, but the pandemic forced us to amplify those services, more focused on hospitality, and more focused on what people don't have.
The effort is to return time to the employee, to make the commute worthwhile rather than strictly necessary. It becomes a third place, Pearce said, after work and home.
One early focus that declined in importance as the pandemic went on was the goal of not touching things. Some elements remain in the design, like the building app that sends guests a QR code to scan at entry gates and also programs the elevator to take them to the right floor, with no button pushing at all. But the science on pandemic safety found this was not a main vector of viral spread. So there are door knobs. Some things have buttons. Some things don't change permanently.
Our conviction from a cultural standpoint was that people wanted to be around other people and this vision of permanently working from home will not come to pass, said Avi Tesciuba, Canada country head at Hines, a real estate firm that partnered with Ivanho Cambridge in the CIBC Square project.
So there is a tenants-only fourth floor canopy deck with harvest tables and a concierge station and places to sit and gather. Meals are similarly prioritized, with offerings modelled on the idea of food trucks, where vendors can cycle in and out of smaller stations, and chairs and stools and benches that are not bolted to the floor, as in the typical franchised basement food court. A white table cloth restaurant from an established name is in the works but not yet announced.
Across downtown on Duncan Street, media conglomerate Thomson Reuters is soon to open its Toronto Technology Centre, where construction started in 2017. A final interior design was ready by early 2020, but the lockdown inspired major changes on the fly. These changes, in turn, will serve as a real-life test of the company's plans for five new floors in a 57-floor tower to be built above the existing five.
The building is heritage designated, the old Southam Press Building, built in 1908, four years after fire wrecked Toronto's downtown. The project is to design a modern office into an old warehouse that still stands as a relic of a mighty Canadian company long since gone, but with newspaper titles that continue, including this one, which is curious because Thomson Reuters is majority owned by the Thomson family, which also owns The Globe and Mail.
Here near the theatres, the office real estate vibe is a little more bohemian. They do not need to reproduce any food truck vibes. Their employees can just step outside. Here, the most promising lunch is not at that harvest table on the private mezzanine above the marble-clad lobby, but across the street at a casual basement noodle bar run by Toronto's best loved Th
LINK: | https://www.x2omedia.com/en/company/news/employees-are-in-the-drivers-... |
See more stories from x20 |
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
09/05/2024
Scripps Appoints New President and CEO of the Scripps Howard Fund
CINCINNATI Meredith Delaney has been appointed president and CEO of the Scripps Howard Fund, the philanthropic arm of The E.W. Scripps Company....
09/05/2024
Walmart Launches the Onn. 4K Streaming Device
Following leaks earlier this month of Walmart's plans to launch a new 4K streaming box, Walmart has officially unveiled the Onn. 4K Pro, a hybrid streaming ...
09/05/2024
DirecTV Adds More CW Stations
DirecTV continues to add CW affiliates to its streaming line-up, with the addition of four stations owned by Gray Television....
09/05/2024
Takeshi Kitano's film KUBI graded with DaVinci Resolve
Takeshi Kitano's film KUBI graded with DaVinci Resolve Brie Clayton May 8, 2024 0 Comments Blackmagic Design today announced that DaVinci Resolve ...
09/05/2024
zweiB updates to latest version of R&S CLIPSTER
zweiB updates to latest version of R&S CLIPSTER Brie Clayton May 8, 2024 0 Comments Specialist in deliverables for cinema, events and trade shows Ro...
09/05/2024
Simplify Your Filmmaking with Portable Lights
Simplify Your Filmmaking with Portable Lights Sean Alami May 8, 2024 0 Comments Discover the sleek, mobile Zhiyun lights that enhance cinematic scenes...
09/05/2024
The Benefits of using an Audio Interface
The Benefits of using an Audio Interface Colin Smith May 8, 2024 0 Comments This tutorial takes you through the hardware and software benefits of usin...
09/05/2024
Mother's Day Idea from CBC
Capitol Broadcasting has a myriad of ways to celebrate Mom! In honor of Mother's Day, here are a few ideas CBC divisions have to help you honor, or remember...
09/05/2024
Lachlan Murdoch Sees Progress Toward Sports Streaming Product
Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said his company, The Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros. Discovery are in a two-minute drill to get their streaming sports joint venture t...
09/05/2024
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Joins Prime Video's NASCAR Team
NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. is joining the Prime Video broadcast booth when the streaming network begins NASCAR Cup Series coverage next year. Earnhardt Jr...
09/05/2024
Nexstar Pitches Sports on The CW, Extra Reach Via Stations (Upfronts)
If upfront advertisers are looking for reach, Nexstar Media Group believes its base of local stations gives it a unique way to achieve that goal....
09/05/2024
Pluto TV Debuts NBCUniversal Local Streaming News Channels
NBCUniversal Local's 15 NBC and Telemundo local and regional streaming news channels begin launching on Pluto TV this month, starting May 8 with five channe...
09/05/2024
Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead' Debuts on BET Plus May 16
BET Plus said it has set May 16 as the premiere date for its original movie Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead....
09/05/2024
Disney's Rita Ferro Is Banking on Sports, Streaming, Tech (Upfronts)
Heading into the upfront, the advertising market is noticeably healthier than it was a year ago, Rita Ferro, president of global advertising sales at The Walt D...
09/05/2024
Rohde & Schwarz showcases operational efficiency at MPTS
Rohde & Schwarz showcases operational efficiency at MPTS Uncompromised quality and reliability coupled with simplicity and efficiency Rohde & Schwarz will ...
08/05/2024
Saved! and Rudo y Cursi Among Films With May Anniversaries
Diego Luna's character Beto aims to play professional soccer in Carlos Cuar n's film Rudo y Cursi....
08/05/2024
SGL Carbon: Focus on global growth trends pays off
SGL Carbon had a solid start to the first quarter of 2024. Despite the slight decline in sales of 3.9% to 272.6 million (Q1 2023: 283.7 million), adjusted EBI...
08/05/2024
The results are in from Malm Arena as Semi Final 1 participants move through to the Grand Final of this year's Eurovision Song Contest
The results are in from Malm Arena as Semi Final 1 participants move through to...
08/05/2024
Powerful NITV documentary Kindred to premiere during Reconciliation Week
Powerful NITV documentary Kindred to premiere during Reconciliation Week Media releases A journey of family, friendship and home *Watch the trailer here* ...
08/05/2024
Aerojet Rocketdyne Selected by DoD to Demonstrate Powder-in, Engine-out Hypersonic Propulsion Manufacturing
Aerojet Rocketdyne delivers a broad range of capabilities to support hypersonic ...
08/05/2024
L3Harris is Advancing the Future Fleet by Delivering Integrated Solutions
Selected by Fincantieri Marinette Marine, L3Harris is the shipboard design integrator and a key partner on the Fincantieri team for delivering critical subsyste...
08/05/2024
EditShare Goes Beyond Storage at MPTS
EditShare Goes Beyond Storage at MPTS Workflow, server and delivery solutions from storyboard to screen Stand D40, London Olympia, May 15-16, 2024 - EditShar...
08/05/2024
Tegna, Indiana Fever Expand Broadcast Distribution to 11 Additional Markets
TYSONS, Va. Tegna Inc. and the Indiana Fever have announced they have expanded the broadcast distribution of 17 Fever WNBA games to 11 additional markets....
08/05/2024
Comcast Business Boosts Internet Speeds
PHILADELPHIA Comcast Business has increased Internet speeds for customers, nationwide, at no additional cost and has introduced its fastest Internet plans yet ...
08/05/2024
Clear-Com to Showcase Cutting-Edge Communication Solution...
Clear-Com , a renowned provider of professional real-time communication solutions, is thrilled to announce its participation at InfoComm 2024, the largest profe...
08/05/2024
MRMC Achieves its Second Kings Award for Enterprise
Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC), a Nikon company, is one of the 252 organisations recognised with a prestigious King's Award for Enterprise. Announced to...
08/05/2024
EditShare goes beyond storage at MPTS
EditShare, the technology leader that enables storytellers to create and manage collaborative workflows at every stage from storyboard to screen, is exhibiting ...
08/05/2024
Magnifi and Linius Fuse Live and Archive Content to Redef...
Magnifi by VideoVerse an AI-driven video technology company and powerful video-editing SaaS platform is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Linius ...
08/05/2024
NVIDIA RTX GPU Connects DaVinci Resolve to Power
NVIDIA RTX GPU Connects DaVinci Resolve to Power Brie Clayton May 8, 2024 0 Comments Two of the most important questions that the Creative COW audienc...
08/05/2024
Q&A with Visiting Artist Lei Liang
Q&A with Visiting Artist Lei Liang The acclaimed composer discusses his collaboration with Boston Conservatory, his work as a research artist, and what it mea...
08/05/2024
More Stations in San Antonio Launch NextGen TV Broadcasts
A second group of stations has begun broadcasting NextGen TV signals in San Antonio, Texas....
08/05/2024
NBC Orders More Deal or No Deal Island'
NBC has ordered a second season of unscripted Deal or No Deal Island. Joe Manganiello hosts, and executive produces alongside Howie Mandel. Manganiello will ret...
08/05/2024
Tegna Names Greg Retsinas GM At KGW, Portland, Oregon
Tegna said it named Greg Retsinas as president and general manager of KGW, the NBC affiliate in Portland, Oregon, effective June 3....
08/05/2024
Measurement Company Comscore Posts $5.2 Million Loss in 1st Quarter
Comscore lost money in the first quarter as weak linear ad sales impacted its cross-platform measurement business....
08/05/2024
Funny Business as NBC Orders Happy's Place,' Renews Lopez vs. Lopez'
NBC said it bolstered its comedy slate by renewing Lopez vs. Lopez and ordering Happy's Place, starring Reba McEntire....
08/05/2024
Knuckles' Knocks Fallout' From Top of TVision Power Score Rankings
Paramount Plus's Knuckles knocked Amazon Prime Video's Fallout out of the top spot in TVision's Power Score ranking of the top show on connected TV ...
08/05/2024
Tegna Adds 11 Markets To Lineup for Indiana Fever Games
Tegna, which made a deal to broadcast 17 Indiana Fever games featuring top WNBA draft pick Caitlin Clark, said it made deals that will put the games on stations...
08/05/2024
EchoStar Loses 348,000 Pay TV Subs in 1st Quarter
EchoStar said it lost another 348,000 pay TV subscribers so far this year, closing the first quarter with 8.18 million subscribers. That total includes 6.26 mil...
08/05/2024
Fox Has Net Income of $666 Million in 3rd Quarter
Fox reported a profit for its fiscal third quarter....
08/05/2024
IPG's Kinesso Unit Adds Senior Executives to Lineup
Kinesso, the centralized tech and data unit at media agency IPG Mediabrands, named Tom Amies-Cull as global chief operating officer and Amie Owen as global chie...
08/05/2024
Post production houses adopt Cleanfeed Cinema solution
The solutions in-browser stream focuses on low latency, making it suited to low bandwidth scenarios By Matthew Corrigan Published: May 8, 2024 The solutio...
08/05/2024
TAG unveils subtitling language detection feature
Driven by algorithms, the solution performs a quality analysis informed by language-specific dictionaries By Matthew Corrigan Published: May 8, 2024 Drive...
08/05/2024
Mobilelinks acquires 2 SAT Europe to increase SNG truck fleet
The increase in fleet size will reduce travel distances, aligning with sustainability goals, said Mobilelinks By Matthew Corrigan Published: May 8, 2024 T...
08/05/2024
Arqiva adds Caroline Cardozo and James Lelyveld to technology team
The company said the new arrivals would drive collaboration and technological transformation across key business units By Matthew Corrigan Published: May 8, ...
08/05/2024
Actus Digital Set to Shine at CABSAT and Broadcast Asia
Following a successful NAB Las Vegas 2024 and winning a Best of Show Award, Actus Digital, a leading provider of Intelligent Monitoring Platforms, will bring it...
08/05/2024
TAG Revolutionizes Closed Captions and Subtitles Quality...
TAG Video Systems, a leading force in video monitoring solutions, has developed a new Language Detection feature set to transform how operators ensure quality a...
08/05/2024
Pliant Technologies Unveils New SmartBoom LITE Headset at...
Pliant Technologies, a leading provider of professional wireless intercom solutions,presents its new SmartBoom LITE Headset at InfoComm 2024 (Booth C5116). The ...
08/05/2024
Prism Sound Showcases High-Quality Audio Conversion at MP...
At the Media Production & Technology Show 2024, Prism Sound will showcase high-quality audio conversion products designed to suit the demands of professional us...