Examining future multilocality of work by means of personal characteristics and personal work success – Implications for CREM and HR strategies

The work environment of knowledge workers has been subject to constant change not only due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Shifts in technology, the economy, and society are changing the way we work. In addition to the office, work from home and third places are now available for the completion of tasks. The Covid-19 pandemic globally forced knowledge workers to work from home and thus, enabled employees to gather experiences in working from home, accelerating the development. It can be assumed that many knowledge workers are weighing up their preferred place of work.Previous studies have shown that working from home can have positive effects for companies in the form of productivity improvements. So far, this potential has mainly been shown for the average of the total workforce. Yet, it is not clarified which employees exactly benefit from working from home and which employees should work from the office or from third places. The aim of the study is to identify clusters that have their own work location distribution and to describe these based on personal, work-related, and real estate characteristics. In addition, it is to be examined whether the desire for the specific work location distribution (modal split) promises success.The identification of clusters is carried out using hierarchical cluster analysis including previously identified personal, work-related, and real estate characteristics. The assessment of the results is based on the comparison of the cluster characteristics, the stated preference for work from home, third places, and company office as well as previously identified variables on work success at different work locations. Data from a survey of 1159 knowledge workers in Germany and the U.S. is used.The results of the study provide important information for corporate real estate management and other actors in the real estate industry. They suggest that knowledge workers have developed a good sense of which work location they can successfully work at. Nevertheless, companies must carefully decide which employees could work from home or at third places with regard to the company's success. In addition, the results underline the necessity of upgrading the quality of corporate spaces: On the one hand, to be able to offer suitable workplaces for cooperation and, on the other hand, foster corporate culture through an appropriate real estate portfolio.