The $30bn Opportunity: Why Office Pods Are the Future of Work
Pods at the office
The total cost of constructed rooms v. Framery pods, calculated for the total office space requiring renovation in the US by 2030.
New data shows that a switch from building meeting rooms to buying pods could generate up to $30.3 billion in corporate real estate savings.
The simplest way real estate developers and companies can upgrade their office amenities – and cut costs – is by investing in movable office pods.”
TAMPERE, FINLAND, May 10, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- New data1 based on published reports from CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield3 shows that the simplest way real estate developers and companies can upgrade their office amenities – and cut costs – is by investing in movable office pods.— Samu Hällfors, CEO, Framery
Employees now want from offices the same perks they have come to appreciate when working from home: quiet, focus, and privacy. A Leesman study found that focused independent work is critical for successful team collaboration. Yet meeting rooms are in limited supply. Increased video conferencing and hybrid meetings mean that open-plan offices now need to accommodate greater numbers of private, sound-insulated meeting spaces.
Updates are necessary across the board. The changing needs of hybrid work mean that 2.6 billion square feet of office space in the U.S. will require renovation by 2030 to remain competitive in the real estate market, as per figures by Cushman & Wakefield. These upgrades can be costly for real estate owners and the companies that take tenancy in these spaces, but office pods offer a solution.
“In New York City, for example, where rent per square footage is among the world’s highest, our analysis shows that switching from building more meeting rooms to buying office pods can lead to a 65% reduction in cost,” says Samu Hällfors, CEO of Framery, the world’s leading manufacturer of soundproof office pods. “This represents a potential $30.3 billion in savings across all commercial real estate.”
Pods work just like meeting rooms, offering focused, quiet working spaces for individuals and groups. The largest pods can fit up to six people, and as 90% of meetings now have at least one virtual participant, the pods’ plug-and-play technology integration makes organizing hybrid meetings effortless.
“As a culture, we are shifting to a more flexible way of working. That is where office pods come in,” says Hällfors. “Pods are compact and make better use of existing space. They allow for greater flexibility in rearranging and reconfiguring offices. And they can be moved to a new location when needed. That all greatly reduces the lifetime costs associated with running an office, especially in larger cities with high-priced real estate.”
Framery invented, manufactured, and sold the world’s first office pod, and its Framery O model is now the world’s best-selling pod. The majority of Forbes 100 companies use Framery pods, including Microsoft, L’Oreal, and Tesla. That adoption rate will only intensify in the next year or two, says Hällfors. “In 2013, the global market for pods was roughly 1,000 units. Now it is tens of thousands of pods. We’ve seen over 200 manufacturers pop up globally since we created the market in 2010.”
CBRE’s global research report indicates that access to focus space like pods is now the most desired office perk, ranking higher in employee preferences than a private office. “The increasing demand for these office pods isn’t coming so much from management as it is from employees themselves”, says Hällfors. “Reimagining the workplace in these innovative, cost-effective ways is what is going to get employees excited to return to the office.”
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About Framery
Framery is a workplace industry pioneer that is serious about happiness. The brand’s product offerings of pods, phone booths, and soundproof private spaces solve noise and privacy issues in open offices, making employees happier and more productive in dozens of the world’s leading companies, including Microsoft, Puma, Vodafone, and Deloitte. In fact, the majority of all Forbes top 100 companies use Framery.
Kalle Mattila
PYRY
kalle@pyry.co
WATCH NOW: Webinar: Rethinking Meeting Spaces at https://vimeo.com/821547627/b82c1c870d?share=copy
1 https://www.frameryacoustics.com/en/using-office-pods-instead-of-constructing-new-meeting-rooms/
2 https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cbre.com/insights/books/global-office-fit-out-cost-guide-2022-2023&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1683682170622447&usg=AOvVaw3WVJdSs3Pf-FUSEWapiyTn
3 https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/united-states/insights/obsolescence-equals-opportunity
