Scott Spector Shares Top 6 Ways to Design for Millennial Workforce

By Anna Spiewak, Senior News Editor

Spector Group’s Principal Scott Spector took time out from designing offices and meeting with potential clients to chat live with CPE editors about the latest news in building and design for a Millennial workforce, in Twitter style of 140 characters or less per Tweet.

CPE: Welcome to CPE’s Twitter Chat. Today, we have with us Scott Spector. Scott is a Principal at Spector Group, an architecture and design firm, of which he founded the New York City office in 1998. We’ll be chatting live about six ways to design for the Millennial workforce. Scott, thanks so much for lending your expertise insight to CPE and its followers.

Spector: Thank you for the introduction, happy to be here.

CPE: What are the six ways to design to attract and retain Millennials in the work space?

Spector: 1.) Amenities are the primary attractions to recruit and retain Millennials. These include fully loaded café/pantry areas, gaming rooms and multipurpose room options that address fitness, wellness and focus.

2.) The design should encourage a wide range of collaborative environments.

3.) Technology, which offers overall flexible and integrated solutions that support different workstyles, providing the necessary tools needed to work efficiently.

4.) Flexible, variable spaces is the fourth. Mixing up the office configuration not only helps you get the most out of your square footage, but it also promotes a healthy mind, increases focus and fosters creativity.

5.) Acoustics should also be addressed to support the different workstyles and settings (such as ceiling treatments, acoustic tiles, acoustic wall treatments and white noise).

6.) WELLNESS – Access to daylight, bike storage, wellness rooms, and healthy snacks are all things Millennials are looking for.

CPE: How can you design for Millennials without alienating Baby Boomers, who are still a sizable part of the workforce?

Spector: You still need a variety of support spaces (private and collaborative) to allow for workstyles.

CPE: Out of the six points you discussed, which one is MOST important to Millennials?

Spector: Amenities, collaboration and flexibility are all tied for first place.

CPE: What will drive Millennials away, in terms of design? What do they dislike the most?

Spector: Private and enclosed spaces with no light or food provided will drive them away. Plus, spaces that are “too quiet.” A healthy buzz or vibe is a must throughout the open office.

Gregory F. Burke (Twitter follower): Will we ever see a return to offices and 6×8 workstations or is benching the way for the next 10 yrs?

Spector: Gregory, benching will be the primary, but offices and workstations will never disappear. Thanks!

Mike Ratliff (Twitter follower): Will the Tenant Star energy program impact office design? Are your clients trying to save energy with build outs?

Spector: Mike, yes and yes! Energy conservation is consistently a top item of discussion.

CPE: How often are you asked to design an office with Millennials in mind? Is there interest to appeal to that demographic in the workplace?

Spector: All the time. A healthy percentage of our clients are Millennial owned.

CPE: Why is this demographic a significant one in office design now?

Spector: The technology and engineering industry is booming. Most Millennials entering the workforce are gravitating to these types of firms.

CPE: Scott, thanks for lending your insight to CPE and its followers.

Spector: It was our pleasure.