Empty Spaces: With Office Work Changed Forever Due to COVID-19, Office Parks Will Change, Too

February 24, 2022

The pandemic has altered the workplace dynamic, and experts say the North Jersey landscape built on officeparks is about to change forever.

“In the Northeast, the five-day-a-week in-office is history,” said Jim Hughes, a Rutgers professor and dean emeritus of the university’s Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.

Employers are now adapting to the new normal of a flexible work environment after adjustments during the pandemic showed that work from home can be managed successfully. The office park is a relic of the past, before technology such as smartphones and high-speed internet were in every home, Hughes said.

“We have a huge inventory of obsolete space,” he said.

The Record, February 24, 2022

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