Adaptive Spaces
Flexible Office Trends in Financial Services 2022
Flexible Office Space Use Projected to Increase
July 7, 2022 8 Minute Read
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Executive Summary
CBRE Agile Practice surveyed 17 financial services companies and received 18 responses, six based in Europe and 12 in the U.S.*
These companies have significant global footprints and more than 950,000 employees.
*Note: One company completed the survey twice, once for each region.
Key Takeaways
*Note: One company completed the survey twice, once for each region.
Flexible Office Adoption Trends
Figure 1
Expectations for Increased Use of Flexible Office Space
Forty-four percent of survey respondents expect to more than double their use of flexible office space by 2024, with the biggest adopters planning a fivefold increase.
More than half (55%) of the respondents will use more flexible office space in the future.
17% expect to significantly increase usage (20%) by 2024.
Figure 2
Source: CBRE Agile Practice, 2022.
Popular Flexible Office Solutions
Suites with shared amenities are the most popular flexible office solution.
Most respondents chose a combination of different flexible office solutions to suit their needs. The most common combinations are:
- “Suites + Enterprise Space”
- “Suites + Access Passes”
Figure 3
Purposes of Using Flexible Office Solutions
Flexible office space is used mainly as a temporary solution.
Financial services companies largely find the most value in using flexible office space as a bridge to long-term solutions, to accommodate remote workers and to test new markets.
Figure 4
Source: CBRE Agile Practice, 2022.
Challenges of Flexible Office Space Adoption
IT security is the biggest challenge for financial services companies when using flexible office.
IT security, regulatory/privacy issues and cultural fit were cited by nearly all respondents as the biggest obstacles to a broader adoption of flexible office space.
Most companies are accommodating VPN access in flexible office space for employees who are not subject to regulatory restrictions, similar to such access for employees working from home.
For larger footprints, companies require rights to install their own IT network.
Figure 5
Source: CBRE Agile Practice, 2022.
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