Much speculation now surrounds how office space use will change following the pandemic. Remote working was more successful than what most people anticipated as employees adapted well to the crisis with the support of technology. Despite working alone and distant from co-workers employees retained their productivity over an extended period, suggesting that a full reversion to pre-pandemic workplace norms will not occur.
Workplace design and data analytics startup VergeSense is right in the mix of this major change in office utilization. Their Workplace Analytics Platform and expertise helps businesses better understand how employees use office space that is even more valuable due to the changes that occurred during the pandemic.
Through the use of deep learning sensors combined with AI they capture accurate occupancy data that they then translate into insight on how employers can optimally design their work environments. Their intelligent sensors count people across an office, as well as the usage and occupancy of buildings, floors, seating areas, conference rooms, and individual desks.
Founded just in 2017, the AI startup is able to measure utilization efficiency of over 40M square feet of real estate globally which the company used to issue a report based on data gathered over the past year. Their study found that office use which was already on the decline accelerated during the pandemic, dropping from 30% average utilization pre-pandemic in January 2020 to 7.9% average utilization in January 2021.
But new data in their study also revealed that there was a notable 15% increase in the use of collaborative office space from 2020 to 2021. Pre-pandemic data showed that collaborative spaces were 25% more utilized than spaces dedicated to individual work. This is counter to more space being available for individual use, 83% versus 17% for collaborative work.
VergeSense sees the need for competitive companies to re-think their office designs to foster collaboration. Their view is that traditional offices, focusing on heads-down work, is no longer in line with their primary source of value. Heavy underutilization of space is prompting interest in agile seating as one potential solution.
The now well-funded the AI startup, co-founded by seasoned entrepreneur Dan Ryan, has notable clients such as Genentech and Rapid7. VergeSense is preparing them and others for the post-pandemic future that may soon be here.
“We know a space is effective if it’s being used,” said Jamie Kinch, Rapid7 VP Real Estate and Workplace Experience. “Without VergeSensors, I don’t think we could be as nimble. Now, we’re able to continuously test, adapt and change our workplace design to meet desired employee experience and business outcomes.”
