LOS ANGELES—Just when we adjusted to millennials, there is a new generation descending on the office market. Generation Z, the generation following millennials, is preparing to enter the job market meaning that there will be three generations working alongside one another. At NAIOP's O.CON event in Downtown Los Angeles, experts—Jason Hickey, president and CEO of Hickey & Associates; Barbara Bouza, managing director and principal at Gensler; and Richard De Jesu, SVP of human resources at Northern Trust Corp.—discussed how workplaces must conform to a multigenerational workforce.

According to Hickey, each generation has its own work tactics and culture, and corporations need to identify a corporate culture that all generations are comfortable with. For millennials, that change has come with more open workspaces and work day structures that promote a healthy work/life balance, which is one of the most important qualities to millennials. Gen Z will have an even more extreme view on the workplace than the millennial generation. Once this group enters the workforce, it will be the most educated generation in history and will be highly skilled.

As a result, work place design has adapted smaller spaces with an average of 120 square feet per person and features like sharable desks, according to Bouza. “Workplace design can help drive innovation. It is an investment in the individual.” Well being design, which includes childcare and food options, and diversified group spaces for collaboration and innovation have become required amenities for workers.