Workplaces are always a work-in-progress. As enterprise and employee requirements continue to change along with alterations in human expectations, offices evolve accordingly. Every U.S. president, for instance, makes interior design changes upon entering the White House (President Donald Trump has brought in maximalism and gold furnishings as his signature style.)

2026 is going to be an important one for office space in India. If the past decade has been about design layouts that were easy on the eyes and supported collaboration, the focus has now shifted back to productivity. More importantly, on factors that can negatively influence it.

According to international property consultant CBRE, better work focus and concentration, which is 52%, and setting boundaries between work and home, which is 32%, are cited as top priorities for employees as they come back to office in a post-pandemic world.

This is possibly why the vibrant offices of the early 2020s are now widely labelled as ‘over-designed’ spaces, where productivity is often compromised for aesthetic value and collaboration for personal space.

Focus problem

As the nature of work becomes increasingly complex, distractions of any form could be highly detrimental to employee productivity. Complex and distracting office designs that seem easy on the eye, in fact, make our brains work twice as hard, leading to higher stress levels, directly impacting employee wellbeing.

Frequent auditory and visual overload test employees’ focus on various levels.

A 2019 noise and wellbeing at work survey found that 65% of employees surveyed reported the noise in their workplace had an impact on their ability to complete work in an accurate and timely manner. Almost half of the employees surveyed believed working in noisy conditions harmed their stress levels and overall wellbeing.

As evidence of reduced productivity, elevated stress levels and employee dissatisfaction continues to grow, companies will have to opt for simpler, more purposeful and adaptable offices.

Limitations of open-floor plan

Open-office plans do have their merits. At the get-go, the wall-free shared spaces ooze progress and modernity. But, large-scale and prolonged use has now brought to the fore the flaws of this concept.

Much before the open-layout plan became a fad in India, mostly because of its employer-friendliness, research had pointed out its limitations. After reviewing hundreds of studies on workplace environments, in 2011, Matthew Davis, a psychologist and business professor at the University of Leeds, concluded that the noise and interruptions by colleagues in open offices harmed employees’ productivity, creativity, attention spans and satisfaction.

Open-plan fatigue

Research studies on different types of work offices done nine years before the pandemic showed employees working in open-plan offices had 62% more days of sickness absence compared to employees working in cellular offices.

The very nature of work has undergone a deep and irreversible shift and employees today shift constantly between tasks that require intense concentration, quick decision-making, creative ideation and social interaction.

A fit-for-all work environment cannot support such dynamic demands. Considering AI users report higher levels of burnout — Quantum Workplace data shows levels of burnout is 45% compared to those who use the technology infrequently, which is 38%. Offices must become spaces to ensure calm and composure rather than triggers of constant anxiety and fear due to being ‘put on display’.

All in all, human-centred workspaces that honour the diversity of their occupants and accommodate their varied needs will be the winners in 2026 and beyond. While perfect is a long way to reach, a flexible ecosystem will do perfectly fine for now.

The writer is co-founder and director in marketing at SpazeOne.