3 About the study Areim conducted this study in collaboration with researcher Christina Bodin Danielsson, Associate Professor in Architecture at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), spring 2023. Purpose The study looks at how larger organisations relate to the new era of office working life following a rise in remote working after the pandemic. Its focus rests on strategic, office-related matters linked to the so-called hybrid office. On this basis, we approached facility managers who work specifically in this area in various different roles, in contrast to other studies which have addressed the topic from a management or employee perspective. Our ambition with this report is to establish more clarity around whether the increase in remote working represents a structural change or if it is simply a residual effect of the pandemic. We hope that it will assist companies in their solutions and decisions on office-related matters. Perhaps it may inspire property owners, architects and even city planners to adopt innovative approaches to the future role of the office in order to promote sustainable working lives and societies. Methodology The study is anonymised and based on a survey and in-depth interviews conducted in spring 2023 (March–April), over one year after pandemic restrictions were repealed (February 2023). The participating organisations thus have good first-hand experience of the return to the office, and the opportunity to test out various strategies. We opted for a strategic sample (rather than a randomized) in that we approached large national and international organisations in the Stockholm area with more than 500 employees. There is just one exception to this – one organisation turned out to only have 30 employees, but they are part of a group with more than 500 members of staff. Some of the organisations are divided across multiple offices. The offices in our study are located centrally within the inner city, semi-centrally within the neighbouring areas, and in suburbs on the fringes of the city. The report is written based on scientific methodology, where our results are also linked to existing research and a market analysis of the office situation as of autumn 2023. The report develops its argument by combining both results and analyses to put the issue of the post-pandemic office into a wider perspective. The quotes in the report are taken from in-depth interviews and free-text responses in the survey. Our predictions for the future in the last chapter are based on the study and our analysis of the office situation in autumn 2023, but also on the experience of Christina Bodin Danielsson as an office specialist who has worked both nationally and internationally. It is written from a first-person perspective as Christina expands on her own thoughts around the hybrid office of the future. Sample and dropout rate Following the initial stages and dropout, we were left with a final analytical sample of 62 facility managers from 53 different organisations. Of those organisations that took part, 70% were private and 30% were public. Nine of the organisations put forward two respondents, and because their responses were so different from one another, it was not possible to let just one of them represent the organisation. We therefore decided to keep both. In addition to our analytical selection of facility managers, we also had a smaller group of eight individuals with HR roles. We analysed these individuals separately due to their occupational focus. Dropout rate: We contacted 81 organisations and the dropout rate was 35%. The reasons given by those who declined to take part were that they already had a good handle on their office needs post-pandemic and did not need more insights into this, or that they do not participate in studies initiated by private actors (in this case, Areim AB). Others stated that, although they were interested, they did not have the time to participate due to heavy workloads.
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