There’s been quite a bit of talk about the future of work and its remote or hybrid nature, but where does that leave the physical spaces in which we used to do our jobs? Since COVID-19 was officially classified as a pandemic in March 2020, the US has lost about 138.4 million square feet of office space. That’s 34 percent more than the 103 million square feet that were lost during the Great Recession of 2007 to 2010. “What we can see is that there are a number of leases, especially in smaller regional/suburban offices of our large clients, that are not being renewed,” said Raj Krishnamurthy, CEO of workplace technology firm Freespace. This is allowing organizations to downsize and experiment with more flexible spaces for employees. Google, for example, is rolling out adaptable work environments called team pods. These spaces have the elements of traditional offices but can be transformed to suit employee needs with ease. “Each company will make its own decisions around whether they need more or less real estate based on a combination of hybrid work policies, employee locations, and actual space usage,” said Juliana Beauvais, a research manager for IDC’s Enterprise Asset Management and Smart Facilities practice. “Regardless of the footprint, it is clear that most organizations will transform the offices they own or occupy to meet the requirements of the digital world.”