State Street, the mega financial services firm managing a whopping $3.5 trillion in assets, is shaking up the office space market. COVID-19's impact on work patterns has pushed them to reassess their real estate presence in New York City. The shift will affect around 500 employees who previously worked at two of their offices near the Rockefeller Center.
State Street, renowned for its iconic "Fearless Girl" statue outside the New York Stock Exchange, isn't abandoning the city entirely. As reported by CNN, they're tossing out their offices at 1290 Avenue of the Americas and 1040 but are building a communal workspace in Manhattan instead. This move ensures that their employees, including some key members of the global leadership team, can access the new workspace.
Employing a hybrid workforce approach, State Street feels the need to adapt its physical office space requirements to better match the needs of its personnel. Their spokesperson stated, "To ensure fairness towards our hybrid workforce, we closely examined our real estate presence in New York City to align our space needs with our employees' workplaces."
First reported in the Wall Street Journal and announced internally to State Street employees in May, this transition will see the demolition of their existing offices. However, the company sees this move as an opportunity to embrace flexibility and enhance collaboration.
While details on the exact motivations behind State Street's move aren't provided, we can draw parallels with other companies who have embraced shared workspaces in response to changing business environments. Shared workspaces generally offer cost efficiency, flexibility, collaboration, and a safety valve against economic uncertainties.
[2]: According to research published in the Journal of Management and Organization, companies with flexible workspaces report higher levels of employee satisfaction, better work-life balance, and lower job turnover rates. [3]: Economic uncertainty can drive companies to explore more cost-effective and flexible alternatives to traditional office spaces, such as shared workspaces.
