The Ted Moudis Associates 2019 Workplace Report

Photography/Images: courtesy of Ted Moudis Associates

Ted Moudis Associates, a workplace design firm established in 1990 by Senior Principal Ted Moudis, AIA, has since 2016 released an annual workplace report. The report is a perfect snapshot of the firm’s work across each year, a treasure trove of data that is carefully gathered and analyzed by the people who design each of the firm’s projects.

Now in its fourth year, the report is a refreshing break from the soft-data, trend-heavy publications issued by many firms, offering us real numbers and valuable analysis. From the report itself:

“In 2016 we began leveraging our internal database of project metrics to track the trends in workplace design, and further understand how our clients utilize space. In this report we track the changes we have seen over the past calendar year and share with you a snapshot in time of how our clients were working in 2018, as well as our predictions for the changes we will see throughout the current year and beyond.”

To learn more about the report’s contents and the research processes behind its creation, we spoke with Jamie Feuerborn, Director of Workplace Strategy at Ted Moudis Associates.

“As a firm, we’ve always kept an internal database with metrics for all of our projects,” said Ms. Feuerborn. “We didn’t think other firms were doing anything quite like it – compiling and showing our data – so in 2016, we decided to make it available to everyone and to offer an analysis of it.”

“One size does not fit all. “This year we’ve seen the range of USF per seat widen from last year by 35%, while the overall USF per seat dropped.”

The report’s opening statement leads to several key takeaways:

“Many of our clients, regardless of industry, share similar goals in creating their future workplace. Spaces to recruit, retain and mentor top talent, reflect culture and values, support flexibility and choice, and are sustainable both mentally and physically are often key goals. However, the approach and strategy our clients take to achieve these goals is unique to their businesses. While we saw a decrease in the usable square foot (USF) per work seat, the more significant change we saw this year was an increase in the range from the low to high USF metrics we track. The gap widened by 35%, which speaks to the tailored work environments we are creating in collaboration with our clients. With so many factors impacting real estate decisions, the options are more expansive than ever for organizations to choose the right strategy to meet their needs.”

>USF per Seat. “This year we saw average USF per seat decrease from 165 to 151, largely due to the wide range of projects in this year’s report.”

“As we continued to see this year, we are designing spaces with slightly more alternative seats than workspace seats, providing employees with plenty of opportunities to change up their work environment throughout their day.”

>Alternative Seats. “The percentage of alternative to work seats decreased slightly from 54% to 51%, however employers are still providing more alternative seats than work seats.”

>Wellness. “Though we saw a slight drop in wellness spaces this year, we have seen wellness increase in other forms, like sit-stand desks.

>Activity-Based Working. “More organizations and employees engaged in activity-based working (26% this year vs. 24% last year.”

Traditional vs. Activity Based Working. “A larger percentage of our clients’ employees were engaged in activity based working this year…In Activity Based Working Alternative Seat Types, we saw this percentage increase from 59% last year to 65% this year. This could indicate more value being placed on common spaces and community over singular workspaces.”

“Another significant change we saw this year came when we broke out traditional assigned-seat projects and activity-based working projects. In both of these we saw an almost 20 point drop in the USF per person. This shifts the focus of our conversations from the USF per seat to the USF per person.”

Overall vs. Industry Metrics. “Although we have segmented USF per seat, Workspace Types, and Seat Type distribution by industry below, we see a blending in workstyles across industries. We benchmark clients not only within their industry but also with organizations that work similarly to them.”

In the report, TMA noted the now obvious, far-reaching shift toward giving users more choice in the workplace – spaces that are transparent, flexible, purposeful, integrated, mindful and experiential:

A project photo from a TMA designed workplace

“We are finding that across industries, organizations are becoming more aware of the multitude of choices available for creating and implementing a comprehensive workplace approach. No matter the size of the company they are ready to have conversations early and take the time to get it right.”

But, the more thought-provoking content centered around the rise of activity-based work environments, their usage, and the shift from focusing on usable square footage (USF) per seat, to usable square footage (USF) per person.

“Unassigned seating – which indicates an activity-based work environment – has increased 2% every year since we’ve measured it,” said Ms. Feuerborn. “We’ve seen a significant number of work booths being added to projects, as well as other high-back seating, which means we’re being smarter about creating more acoustic and visual privacy.”

From the report: “A larger percentage of our clients’ employees were engaged in activity based working this year. The below information displays the key workplace metrics for traditional workplaces and activity-based workplaces. Each year, we can look back at these metrics to see how choosing a model of working impacts key ratios. In Activity Based Working Alternative Seat Types, we saw this percentage increase from 59% last year to 65% this year. This could indicate more value being placed on common spaces and community over singular workspaces…with this style of working, what matters at the end of the day is user square footage per person.”

A TMA designed workplace

Wellness was of course a focus, but Ted Moudis began to track a new wellness measure this year; for the first time, they included sit-stand usage, measured by number of desks and access. 82% of all Ted Moudis-designed projects provided access to sit-stand desks in the prior year.

“In an unassigned environment, not every desk was sit-stand, but creating the access for everyone to use a sit-stand desk was there,” continued Ms. Feuerborn.

To conclude their 2019 report, Ted Moudis Associates offered five workplace predictions for the future:

  1. More holistic view to showcase company values through design, culture, and policies
  2. More strategy-driven workplace transformations
  3. Increase in opportunities for wellbeing spaces, programs, and sensory elements
  4. Increase in truly flexible workplaces to support mobile employees
  5. More meaningful data collection methods

“Next year is our 50th anniversary as a firm, and it will be the fifth year of the report,” said Ms. Feuerborn. “We’re very excited to be able to see what all of this data does over five full years.”

“During the year, as projects get completed, we start pulling the metrics. Then at one point, we sit down and start analyzing all of that data and figuring out what it’s telling us. It takes time, but we have a great format and a great database, and it’s a tool we know is very valuable, to us and to our clients.”

Read the full report here.