The future of office: Insights from Boston’s professional services leaders
Writer: Andrea Teran
July 2024 —The future of office space has been top of mind for businesses and employees alike in recent years, with a greater preference towards Class A office space and alluring amenities. Meanwhile, existing, older office space is exchanging owners with the intent to repurpose for residential and retail purposes more often.
A survey conducted by Gartner revealed that 36% of senior-level job seekers cited return to office (RTO) mandates as a key factor in their decision to look for new roles, even if they had compelling reasons to return to the office. Furthermore, 48% of employees felt that RTO mandates prioritized what leaders wanted over what employees needed to perform well. This sentiment is echoed in the KPMG 2024 CEO Outlook Pulse Survey, where only 34% of U.S. CEOs expected their employees to be back in the office full-time within the next three years, a significant drop from previous expectations.
Boston is seeing a trend towards converting office spaces into residential units to address the surplus of vacant offices. For instance, Suffolk University has purchased an office building on Tremont Street for $30 million, with plans to convert it into residences for up to 290 students. Similarly, Boston developer Adam Burns is planning to convert the iconic Boston Wharf Co. Industrial Real Estate building in Fort Point into a mixed-use property with 77 housing units.
In contrast, Boston Properties, one of the nation’s largest office landlords, reported a surge in long-term lease commitments, indicating a demand for high-end office spaces. Despite the broader market’s struggles, Boston Properties’ focus on premier workspaces has led to higher-term rates and increased leasing volumes, showcasing a clear demand for top-tier office environments.
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Invest: caught up with leaders in the professional services sector, on how they continue to adapt to this evolving landscape, balancing the needs of their organizations with the preferences of their workforce in mind.
Liam O’Connell, Co-Managing Partner, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
The transition to more remote work has required us to rethink how we train and mentor the next generation of lawyers. While we have largely returned to the office, the environment is still quite different from pre-2019. Training and mentoring can continue to be organic (via in-person interactions), but they also require more intentional focus and planning. We also have the opportunity to leverage new technological tools to support these functions. Clients have also adjusted to this new dynamic, underscoring the need to be flexible. We are continuously evaluating the tools and strategies necessary to ensure we can provide the highest quality services in this changed landscape.
Catherine Macris, Managing Partner, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP
Fragomen prioritizes our people, regularly conducting surveys to understand employee well-being and business needs. Embracing a hybrid work model has proven valuable for employee satisfaction and retention. Despite the push for returning to office spaces, we’ve successfully implemented and maintained a hybrid work environment globally, which has been positively received by our team. This approach has also allowed us to reduce our commercial footprint.
Douglas Farrington, Office Managing Partner, Marcum LLP – Boston
The supply of folks going into the accounting profession, particularly public accounting, has been declining. I think it’s because people are looking in other directions, and technology is part of the reason for that. People are pursuing technological opportunities, which presents some challenges for us in the workforce. The way we have dealt with that challenge is to scale up our presence on campuses and schools, recruiting and finding some of the best and brightest talent there. We are constantly looking in and around the Greater Boston area and elsewhere to find people with the talent and skills we need to bring services to our clients.
The Boston office was laid out initially as the Marcum office of the future. When we did the redesign, it was meant to be the first of its kind. What we meant by that is we were the first to adopt a very open concept. It’s bright with lots of glass, letting in plenty of sunlight into the core of the building. Since implementing this design, every other design across the firm has been built off of it. It is a concept that has rolled out across the country. We found it to be really beneficial for our team. It provides opportunities for collaboration, team building, and productivity. Overall, the space has worked well for us.
Steve Yardumian, Partner-in-charge, Withum
We have largely adopted a hybrid workplace environment, recognizing the need for in-person training and collaboration and the flexibility our team members want in balancing their professional and personal lives. We’re fortunate that our team members understand that benefits such as a hybrid policy are also tools that allow us to provide first-rate client service.
Our efforts in fostering collaboration and flexibility have yielded positive results. By prioritizing a collaborative culture and providing opportunities for industry learning, we are able to ensure a positive experience for our team members within our organization.
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