"Wellness-equipped" smart offices tipped to boom

A combination of an under-utilisation of offices spaces due to COVID-19 restrictions as well as a desire from some employees to ditch remote working will spur a move to equip offices with ‘wellness’ technology.

According to Gavin Tay, Research Vice President at Gartner, “Once lockdowns ease, employees planning to return to the office will have heightened concerns about personal health and safety.

“Offices that have been turned into smart, wellness-equipped spaces make employees feel safer.”

Gartner research indicates that integrated workplace management systems (IWMS) solutions plus resource scheduling applications (RSAs) will be used to help remind employees of hygiene and social distancing rules.

These IWMS and RSA systems will use artificial intelligence and IoT solutions, such as motion sensors and beacons.

Other solutions that could be employed include virtual private assistants for scheduling reminders, as well as air quality monitoring and disinfection systems.

Gartner also recommends that companies look into turning underutilised office space into co-working spaces for outside companies, which would help to recoup some costs.

“Organisations can offer empty office spaces to co-working vendors, pitching them as smart and sustainable, healthy office spaces that can be managed with technologies and tools,” said Rashmi Choudhary, Principal Research Analyst at Gartner.

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