Top Workplaces 2022: The evolution of the office in Connecticut – Hartford Courant

Noah Frank landed his dream job with a consulting firm right after graduating in May from the University of Connecticut, and he immediately stepped into the online working world.

Working fully-remote wasnt much different from jobs Frank held down during the pandemic in college, but he soon found he craved interaction with people, though he did not want to go into the office five days a week.

So, in July, Frank moved from Connecticut where hed lived all his life to Atlanta to be closer to his employers offices with a hybrid work schedule.

Frank, 22, joined a workforce across the country that is in the midst of the most dramatic shift in working in decades, moving into working some or all of their jobs at home, spurred on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Informal, collaborative spaces at insurer Travelers Cos. in downtown Hartford provide different work options. Here, chairs with high backs afford privacy. (Douglas Hook)

Workers were abruptly sent home at the start of the pandemic. Some soon started enjoying the freedom and were mixed about coming back to the office full-time. Others like Frank wanted to see colleagues in the office but didnt need to do that Monday through Friday.

Some experts say work schedule flexibility, with hybrid options part at home, part at the office is high on the list for employees and had already been gaining popularity even before the pandemic.

Those experts also say that work flexibility in the coming years is likely to emerge as critical to both attracting top-notch employees and retaining them.

Greg Reilly, a professor of management and a department head at the UConn School of Business in Storrs, said a broad cross-section of employers didnt have a lot of choice.

Its something the top talent will look at and say, I can live with that. I want more flexibility and freedom and I dont want to waste my time commuting, " Reilly said. So, I think, thats why the strategy that companies are using for hybrid are now in place.

Chef Tim Dooley serves customers at the new 53,000 square foot cafeteria at the Travelers building. Twice a week the company offers a free lunch to draw employees back to the workplace. (Douglas Hook)

In its annual survey of college graduates, Chicago-based staffing firm LaSalle Network found a majority of 2022 graduates did not want work remote full-time. However, 60% said they preferred to work from home two or three days a week.

Frank, a strategist at BCG Brighthouse, said his decision to move to Atlanta was first tied to the job, but flexibility was a major consideration.

Ive gone in five days a week, and that has been great, but at other times, two-three days a week, Frank, who grew up in South Windsor, said. Some weeks, Ill go in and work with my teammates face-to-face. Other times, the real charm is being able to stay in the workflow, stay connected and still have time to get out to a coffee shop.

Frank said going into the office provides the camaraderie with peers, interaction, experts say, that helps build trust among members of a team.

There is something very real, just being able to have small conversations, in and outs, with your colleagues, Frank said.

The evolution of the workplace already in motion before the pandemic also is forcing employers to take another look at their space and how it can be reconfigured for a workforce that spends only part of the time in the office.

Even before the pandemic hit, property-casualty insurance giant Travelers Cos. started moving away from the traditional office-and-cubical configurations. Travelers, at its campus in downtown Hartford was well into emphasizing more informal, collaboration spaces characterized by groupings of chairs and tables.

On an average workday, Travelers has about 2,500 employees on its Hartford campus, divided between those who are working full-time in the office and those who have chosen hybrid schedules. The hybrid schedule allows up to two days a week for working at home and employees opting for that schedule represent the greatest number of Travelers workers on the downtown campus, the insurer said.

Travelers Cos. was moving to emphasize informal, collaborative spaces over traditional cubicles even before the pandemic, the insurer said. (Douglas Hook)

Travelers Chief Administrative Officer Andy F. Bessette said the push into hybrid dovetailed with how the insurer was transforming its own campus in Hartford before the pandemic, one that is dominated by the iconic, 1919 Travelers Tower.

The business world is adapting to this new world, too, and were all just trying to figure it out, Bessette, who is based in Hartford, said.

The centerpiece of the campus renovations is the year-old, 53,000-square-foot food market, with 10 restaurants stations, offering everything from salads to sushi. The food market is an amenity for making the return to the office more attractive.

There are 700 seats in different groupings and designed for more than dining, one even with a gas fireplace. Lingering and collaborating with colleagues is encouraged some of groupings are secluded, quiet, nooks and crannies, as Travelers describes them. The environment is far from the days of buying lunch and eating it at a desk.

So we are bridging something here, said Edward J. Howard, a Travelers second vice president of administrative services, who headed up the food market project. We move from the pandemic. Now you can come back and you know what? This doesnt feel exactly the same as when I left.

So we are bridging something here, said Edward J. Howard, a Travelers second vice president of administrative services, who headed up the insurer's new, 53,000-square-foot food market in downtown Hartford. We move from the pandemic. Now you can come back and you know what? This doesnt feel exactly the same as when I left." (Douglas Hook)

Howard said he had to give employees a good reason to come back to the office. Free lunch twice a week is a potent draw, given the culinary options.

Youve proven you can work from home, so if youre going to come to the office, youre going to come to collaborate, youre going to come to mentor, Howard said. Some people like being at home, but some people there was a little bit of isolation occurring. So what this space does, you get out of your home office. When you want that quiet time, there are all those nooks and crannies.

Hybrid work schedules are forcing employers to take a hard look at the space and how much they are going to need with fewer employees in office five days a week.

In downtown Hartford, those decisions are already sending shockwaves through the city, as office building landlords scramble to line up tenants for space that will be vacated. Tenants are responsible for paying rent until their leases expire, but they can sublease space, often at discounted rates.

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UnitedHealthcare, a major tenant at downtown Hartfords marquee CityPlace I office tower, is downsizing to about one-tenth of its current 350,000 square feet. Other tenants elsewhere in the city are pursing significantly less space as they renew space.

Those decisions will have major implications for restaurants and other businesses that have long depended on office workers. The conversion of former, vacant commercial buildings into 2,800 apartments in and around downtown is helping to build a downtown residential base, but more units are needed, city leaders say.

United Healthcare is dramatically downsizing its space in CityPlace I, at left, in downtown Hartford. (Rick Hartford | The Hartford Courant)

Strides are being made to develop Hartfords potential as an entertainment destination. One focus is using pandemic relief funds to fill long vacant storefronts along Pratt Street, in the heart of downtown, pairing it with residential conversion on the upper floors of buildings on the north side of the historic street.

Not all employers are downsizing. For instance, Hartford HealthCare, the parent of Hartford Hospital, is establishing its headquarters and other operations at 100 Pearl St., diagonally across from CityPlace I.

Companies are doing the balancing act of square footage under management, Daniel Newman, founding partner and principal analyst at Futurum Research, said. Getting the right size inside of different markets is going to be scrutinized heavily over the next few years.

Newman said employers are going to have to weigh " Do we want to continue to pay this huge, expensive cost of having these beautiful offices with juice bars, snacks and smoothies, if no one is going to come to work. "

Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.

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Top Workplaces 2022: The evolution of the office in Connecticut - Hartford Courant