Flexible Office Trends in Life Sciences 2022

Survey Respondents:

Source: CBRE Agile Practice, 2022.

Key Takeaways

Source: CBRE Agile Practice, 2022.

Flexible Office Adoption Trends

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.

Another 12% expect to significantly increase usage (15%) by 2024.

Figure 2

Source: CBRE Agile Practice, 2022.

Popular Flexible Office Solutions

Suites with shared amenities are the most popular flexible office solution, used by almost half of respondents.

Most respondents use more than one solution, with these being the most common combinations:

• Suites + Enterprise Space
• Suites + Access Passes
• On Demand + Access Passes

Figure 3

Source: CBRE Agile Practice, 2022.

Purposes of Using Flexible Office Solutions

Flexible office space is used mainly as a temporary solution.

Life sciences companies largely find the most value in using flexible office space to accommodate remote workers, as a bridge to long-term solutions and to reduce capex.

Figure 4

Source: CBRE Agile Practice, 2022.

Challenges of Flexible Office Space Adoption

Cultural fit is the biggest challenge for life sciences companies.

Nearly half cited these issues as the biggest obstacles to a broader adoption:

• Cultural fit
• IT security
• Regulatory/privacy

Figure 5

Source: CBRE Agile Practice, 2022.

Demand for Flexible Labs

Flexible Lab

means the use of shared or private lab space for on-demand or short-term use, provided by either the employer or by a third party (e.g. SmartLabs); the lab equivalent of flexible office space.