Company culture and connection to brands have become even more critical. According to a 2019 Glassdoor multi-country survey, 75% of employees pay close attention to a company’s culture before applying for a job. And 56% say that culture is more important than salary. The workplace is essential to building culture, and that extends to the virtual realm. According to PwC, organizations with a distinctive culture that gives them a competitive advantage are twice as likely to outperform other companies in their industry peer group on revenue and profitability.

The distribution of focus and collaboration space is changing in the workplace. Consumer Goods companies are leveraging space more effectively around product and consumer engagement, where there will be less real estate dedicated to focus work and more toward collaboration, with mockup spaces, showrooms, virtual reality lounges, and more. There is still a critical need for Consumer Goods workers to work in the office with products and physical collateral. Digital technologies can bring remote and on-site team members together for seamless collaboration. Consider creating a “digital twin” of the workplace to allow employees — whether co-located or remote — to connect.

The pandemic has accelerated the trend of the workplace becoming a touch point for consumer engagement. In order to position themselves for the future, Consumer Goods companies have taken a more keen focus on innovation and experience centers, as well as research and development facilities, all co-located with workplace. The industry is seeing a convergence of workplace and retail experience centers.