The sustainable workplace transition

The early 2020s saw an exponential rise in remote working. Recently, organizations have begun to reverse that trend. Unisys research shows that 32% of employees are now fully office-based, while a further 33% are in the office four days a week.

A consequence of this is increased commuting, which can have an indirect impact on their environmental footprint. European organizations seem more aware of this issue than their peers in other regions and are focused on making the transition as sustainable as possible.

More than three-quarters (76%) of European organizations say sustainability is becoming a more important factor in digital workplace investment decisions, compared with 58% of US and 53% of APAC organizations.

This is reflected in their budgets, with 51% of European organizations increasing their investment in sustainable workplace managed services. These solutions use real-time office data to monitor occupancy, optimize energy usage and make smarter resource decisions while meeting employee needs. Worldwide, Australian organizations are the least likely to embrace sustainable workplace managed services, with fewer than one in five (19%) increasing investments in the past 12 months.

Figure 7:

Less than a fifth of Australian companies have increased investment into sustainable workplace solutions

Q: Thinking about your organization’s working arrangements, to what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements? (Agree)
Q: Thinking about the past 12 months, how would you describe your organization's investment in each of the following digital workplace solutions? (Increased investment)

Figure 8:

Europe finds the balance between office returns and sustainability

Q: Thinking about the past 12 months, how would you describe your organization's investment in each of the following digital workplace solutions? (Increased investment)

Q: Thinking about your organization’s working arrangements, to what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements? (Agree)

European organizations are already seeing the benefits of their investments: 77% say they have achieved a good balance between fostering in-person collaboration at the office and reducing overall environmental footprint. Only 64% and 53% of US and APAC organizations, respectively, report having achieved the same balance. By optimizing energy usage, European organizations have also reduced waste to a greater extent than those in other regions, supporting both sustainability and profitability.