New data reveals 54% of companies are investing more in the workplace

It shouldn’t surprise anyone to say the workplace has changed a lot in the last few years. 2022 was an especially interesting year. It brought fears of a recession, the beginning of layoffs in the tech sector, and discomfort for employees and employers alike. While companies tightened their pursestrings in some areas, other areas saw incredible growth and investment.So we turned to the data to get a deeper look at what really went on in the workplace when it comes to investments. Our newly released At Work: the 2023 workplace trends report reveals insights around foot traffic, desk booking, meeting room reservations, employee behaviors, and more. It looks at more than 31 million workplace entries, thousands of desk reservations, and hundreds of responses from workplace leaders to pull out the key workplace trends from last year. Check out the report to get a full view of all workplace investments, but if you’re short on time, here are three insights into workplace investments from 2022.

54% of companies increased their workplace investments

We asked over 240 workplace leaders around the globe and across industries how their investments in the workplace changed last year. According to the survey results, 54% of companies increased investments in their workplace. Companies that pushed for return to office in the last year likely invested more in their workplace to make it more appealing and productive for employees. We’ll get to the specific investments below. On the other hand, 18% of companies decreased their investments. Companies that maintained a remote model might’ve opted to decrease their investment in the workplace and put those dollars instead behind digital tools.Surprisingly, 28% of companies didn’t change their investments at all. This might be due to uncertain economic conditions of 2022 or because they already had a plan in place to meet and exceed their employees’ needs.

63% of companies invested in conferencing technology

Curious where those extra investments in the workplace went? The biggest area for investment was in conferencing technology. Conferencing technology allows people in different locations to communicate and work together. With 82% of companies surveyed following a hybrid working model, and a number of companies with distributed workforces, it’s essential to invest in best-in-class video conferencing technology so colleagues can collaborate remotely. In addition, employee experience at the workplace was a major focus in the last year. So it makes sense that 50% of respondents said they invested more in onsite events and programs, and 46% invested in onsite food and beverages (catered lunches, anyone?).

The last major category of investment was in workplace tools.26% of respondents invested in a workplace scheduling tool, and 24% in meeting room reservation technology. These technologies made it easier for hybrid employees to navigate their workplace, and made it a lot easier on workplace administrators to track the success of their new workplace strategies.

36% of companies said their workplaces added more collaboration spaces

Investments in the workplace went beyond technology. Some of the investments were in the physical workplace itself. According to our October survey, 46% of leaders say they see the purpose of the workplace as a place for building relationships and collaborating. They didn’t just talk-the-talk, but they put real dollars behind that belief. 36% of this year’s survey respondents said their organizations changed their workplace by adding more collaboration spaces. That can look like casual lounge areas, meeting rooms, pods, and more. This is an increase from last year’s survey responses by 9%, indicating how much collaboration has risen in importance for workplaces everywhere. Other ways organizations changed their workplace to accommodate employees included more desks (23%), more meeting rooms (22%), and more social spaces (19%).On the flip side, some companies looked to make cost-saving decisions and reduce their real estate footprint with fewer desks (11%) and meeting rooms (4%). In 2022, 12% of respondents said they cut costs on real estate which is up 5% from the prior year This might be because more companies moved to a hybrid model and realized they didn’t actually need as much real estate space as they did with an 100% in-office model.

—How and where companies invested their time and dollars reflected what they believed to be the value of the workplace. In 2022, many leaders said the workplace was a hub for connection and collaboration. That’s why we saw so many companies investing wisely into collaboration and onsite perks. Collaborative tools and spaces allowed employees to get meaningful work accomplished, while technology investments enabled a seamless experience in the workplace.