Workforce segmentation: Connecting workplace supply and demand

It is important that real estate space planning be highly responsive to workforce planning. As workforce demographics, behaviours and needs change, real estate should support these changes accordingly. Pre-pandemic, there were many organisations which over-provisioned space (eg 1:1 people to seats, high ratios of individual to collaboration space, low utilisation) and operated in a business-as-usual approach when it came to facility planning. Innovative real estate solutions are rooted in a thorough understanding of the workforce and are designed to reflect how an organisation needs to work to be successful. The pandemic has revealed that a greater level of job flexibility is sustainable and desirable for many, meaning that workplace strategies will account for a broad spectrum of work locations and arrangements moving forward. With this added complexity, conducting workforce segmentation analysis is a key first step toward a more defined plan for real estate needs. This paper articulates the benefits of using workforce segmentation as a tool to support real estate decision making. In addition, it outlines a segmentation process that organisations can institute to memorialise the unique needs of their employees and better gauge how their workplace can support them. Finally, it provides examples of how organisations have leveraged the segmentation process to better understand the demand for space and accurately evaluate footprint requirements and long-term strategies.