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As the pandemic continues, companies are weighing alternative setups to their corporate office structures, including “hub and spoke” and “hubquarters” models. That may prompt many changes in commercial needs moving forward and what companies may be looking for.
The hub and spoke model is based on the use of a central office and smaller satellite offices, while hubquarters involve a network of smaller locations. This setup, which tends to be used for collaborative and independent work, may include a distributed cluster of small offices, co-working spaces, and remote locations, the Commercial Observer reports.
Amazon has already set the stage for more hubquarters locations, opening offices in 17 cities in North America and planning to open six more. Google has also announced it is weighing adding smaller hub offices to offer its employees greater flexibility, the Commercial Observer reports.
Hubquarters may help companies cut costs. They take up less space to operate than a single large headquarters, and maintenance and utility costs are lower, too.
Companies are considering options as they look to bring more of their workforce back to the office as measures to manage the pandemic continue. While a majority of the workforce continues to work remotely, workers are showing some eagerness to return, looking to more easily collaborate with coworkers. The Commercial Observer cites a recent survey that found that satisfied employees in the U.S. are twice as likely as unsatisfied employees to say that collaboration makes them feel more productive. More than half say they collaborate with five or more people on any given day.