Future of Work: Tight labor market may change Triangle’s spaces & places

Editor’s Note: The WRAL TechWire “Future of Work” series, supported by commercial real estate firm JLL and other partners, concludes this week, with a look ahead to the future of work and the future of the Triangle.

So far, the Future of Work series took an in-depth look at the demand for land, which can now be described as “insatiable,” while developers look to shore up their land positions. That’s especially the case in the industrial sector, the topic of the special report and in-depth Q&A, and, increasingly, the life science and biopharmaceutical sector, which the series investigated last week.

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RALEIGH – Employees and job candidates hold leverage in today’s labor market. And as a response, companies are making big decisions about their work spaces, work places, and work policies.

That’s according to Brett Cox, research manager at JLL, in LinkedIn Live discussion on Tuesday.

“The reason why is because human behavior affects the built environment,” said Cox. “So, as we think about where people work and how they want to work, that’s the crux of the issue.”

Employers are in the process of negotiating with their existing employee base, and simultaneously are recruiting and seeking to attract them.

And though in recent weeks, the total number of job openings in the Triangle has dipped, there are still tens of thousands of job openings in the region.

Statewide, there are more than 50,000 open IT roles, a recent report from the North Carolina Technology Association, NC TECH, found, an all-time high.

And employees hold the leverage. In the Triangle, though, employers have already begun to respond.

Special report: What workers want, now and in the future

What employers can do

“High quality spaces is one way [employers] can do that,” said Cox. “A huge way that they’re doing this, right now, because it’s not just about money right now, or the hours that you work, it’s also about the experience that you have in the built environment.”

That’s why companies are in a “flight to quality,” particularly in the office sector, Cox noted. And while there are other factors important to companies in the life science or industrial sector, said Cox, there’s likely to be a future trend toward quality in the coming four to seven years.

“The space we occupy every day affects our mood, how productive we are,” said Cox. “Employers want to attract workers back into the workplace so that they can be their most productive self.”

The future of the Triangle’s economy may just hinge on its spaces.

Special report: The future of the Triangle’s economy hinges on its spaces

This editorial package was produced with funding support from JLL and other partners. WRAL TechWire retains full editorial control of all content.

The series launched here, and the second report discussed high demand. Next, the series explored the relationship between work spaces, work places, and the current labor market. The following weeks, we’ve investigated specific sectors of the real estate market including land development, commercial multifamily properties, industrial space, and life science and biopharmaceutical space.