Reservation systems, sensors, smart building systems, touchless solutions: Companies are adapting to a vast array of new technologies that have major implications for workplace norms and cultures. Employees of different generations and backgrounds will have varying comfort levels with such changes, and it will be up to employers to facilitate universal adoption. Beyond the personal psychological adjustments, new technology will drive how companies craft real estate strategies. As industries such as healthcare and banking become further immersed in technology, employees will expect the same from workplaces in other sectors — and employers will expect benefits to follow.

Companies are reevaluating every business process to support both remote and in-person work. This will lead to a need for organizational design and culture strategy services. Whether companies return to the office in full or in part, the amenities conversation will focus on creating a shared sense of purpose via physical space. For companies that choose to stay remote, the future will demand novel strategies on a mass scale to help workers stay engaged. This will entail policy changes, as will many employers’ decisions to pursue new equity and inclusion goals. Getting an organization to operate in lockstep could be this decade’s most underrated challenge.

We now understand the range of disruptions to be wider than once thought; widescale public health concerns and economic uncertainty will be a part of our reality for years to come. Companies must cast a wide net in determining their preparedness. The full secondary impacts of the economic crisis are unknown, including the impact of a “K” shape recovery, so industry leaders are more interested than ever in resilience and flexibility in their operations and real estate. Economic impacts vary greatly between individuals, cities, and countries, so companies need to stay nimble as they adapt to the many “new normals” in which they operate.