The workplace and work patterns will see long-term changes over the next three-to-five years as a result of the pandemic. A new study from Urban Land Institute conducted its first study of workplace patterns in its Future of Work 2020: A global real estate players' point of view report, which surveyed 555 real estate professionals across the globe to look at the longer term implications of workplace changes as a result of the pandemic.

The survey found that most companies and workers expect that remote work will become a permanent fixture of the workplace model. 96% of respondents to the survey said that employees would continue to work from home, 72% responded that there would be remote work away from the home and 67% of respondents expect increased use of satellite offices. Overall, the majority of respondents believe that 60% of employees will spend at least 40% of their time working remotely. By comparison, before the pandemic, only 20% of office workers spent 20% of their time working remotely.

While workplace strategy will ultimately change, there will still be a need for a physical office, and employees relayed that the office will continue to play an important role in the company culture as well as for talent recruiting and retention. However, there will still be major changes. This includes the reduction of office footprints, expected by 53% of respondents, and increased importance on health and wellness amenities, expected by 94% of respondents.