Top 5 Workplace Challenges for the Next 5 Years

Discover business leaders’ biggest workplace concerns

By Rieva Lesonsky

It’s hard to believe, but 2020 is going to be here before we know it. As we enter the next decade, we’re sure to be met with new workplace trends, technologies and challenges that impact ourselves, our employees and our businesses.

What exactly can we expect? Condeco Software, a market leader in cloud-based meeting room scheduling and workspace reservation solutions, recently released its Modern Workplace 19/20 report, highlighting key workplace trends. Here’s what top business leaders think the biggest challenges to business will be in the next five years:

  1. Integrating technology into the workspace: Half of U.S. business leaders surveyed believe integrating technology into the workplace (or digitizing the workspace) is going to be a significant challenge in the next five years. (Globally, 60% of business leaders are concerned about this.)
  2. Adapting to changing employee expectations: Younger employees have high expectations for their jobs and the space they work in—44% of the business leaders think adapting to changing employee expectations is going to be a considerable challenge.
  3. Increasing costs of workspaces: The high cost of business real estate means space is at a premium. Businesses may be stuck in smaller locations than they’d like—38% of those surveyed say the cost of workspaces is likely to be a pressing issue within the next five years.
  4. Ensuring sufficient variety of workspaces for employees: Nearly one-third (30%) of the business leaders surveyed are also concerned about creating enough variety within their workspaces to help engage and empower their employees.
  5. Ensuring sufficient meeting rooms to meet demand: Condeco says the “least substantial challenge business leaders expect to face, but perhaps the most universally recognizable one, involves meeting rooms.” Everyone complains about meetings, but they’re central to our business lives, and 18% of the business leaders surveyed say their meeting rooms need an upgrade.