On Thursday, May 28, Gensler Co-CEOs Andy Cohen and Diane Hoskins hosted a conversation around the immediate and longer-term needs of getting back to the office and what the future of work might look like. The strategies are based on research findings from the U.S. Work From Home Survey as well as the "Back to the Office" guidebook.

An abundance of reports focus on the workplace in response to COVID-19. The Gensler Research Institute recently released findings from the U.S. Work From Home Survey, which was conducted by a third party that anonymously surveyed 2,300+ U.S. workers across 10 industries. The survey captures people’s experiences working from home — and provides insight into what workers want in a post-COVID era.

We learned that an overwhelming majority of people want to return to the office. The one caveat? They expect to return to a better workplace than the one they left.

The release of these survey results came right on the heels of Gensler's launch of "Back to the Office: Return Strategies for the Workplace and Office Buildings." During the past two months, Gensler's workplace strategy team researched which tools and strategies can assist clients in planning for successful returns to the office. Building owners, developers, and organizations alike are grappling with unprecedented challenges, and this guidebook provides the phased approaches and safeguards that they take to safely get back to the office on Day One.