How will we work in the future? Booking.com believes in complete freedom for employees to choose where and when they want to work. But the office must act like a magnet. This is the last in a series of three articles – see the first about workplace diversity here and the second about wellbeing here – about the Amsterdam-based online travel platform’s new HQ.
Designed by UN Studio, the new Booking.com headquarters brings together staff who were spread over 11 locations in central Amsterdam. The idea of being in the centre is embedded in the core of the company’s real estate strategy: its offices worldwide should be close to its hotel partners. These are also the locations where its employees – often expats – would like to be or live. But Booking.com became increasingly spread over various buildings in Amsterdam and threatened to end up outside the city centre to facilitate further growth.
This led to growing operational challenges. For example, the organizational culture was increasingly difficult to manage centrally, and management saw teams within teams arise, simply because they were spread over different buildings. Moving everyone to a central location seemed like the best solution – even though Bob Elshof, global head of real estate, and Marnix Mali, director of real estate & workspace services, knew that this new headquarters would not be large enough to accommodate all the company’s employees at the same time.
Photo: Ewout Huibers.
To foster collaboration, many desks have been replaced by break-out and meeting rooms, such as this one designed by i29.
But that was pre-COVID, when everyone still had their own desk. The interior of the head office, designed in 2016, was created after the pandemic so that Elshof and Mali could learn from the COVID period. For example, desks now have two screens instead of one, enabling the company to better facilitate hybrid meetings. Furthermore, the traditional own-desk workplace concept was replaced by a wide variety of workplace solutions. Elshof: ‘Each team still has its own area, but with a much greater diversity of shared workplaces, from standing tables and focus rooms to huddle spaces and closed pods. And all those setups are flexible, because we don’t yet know how people like the new workplace concept.’
No return-to-office policy
Post-COVID, no one has their own workspace anymore and staff work an average of two or three days in the office. On peak days the occupancy rate is 50 per cent. As a result, the new head office with its 3,100 desks is suddenly sufficient for the current workforce of 6,500 employees. It can even accommodate further growth, because there are more than 4,000 seats in the three restaurants, many meeting rooms and lounges. Mali. ‘“Succeeding together” is an important value for us. You won’t achieve anything alone. That’s why you see many spaces where people can come together. We gave up a lot of desk space for that.’
Photo: Matthijs van Roon.
HofmanDujardin brought cubicles back to the office to facilitate focus work.
Another value is ‘learning forever’. There’s not only a dedicated learning department, but staff can easily find space to hold discussions throughout the building. For example, the restaurants can be converted into a plenary setting for a few hundred people. Furthermore, electrical connections can be easily relocated so that rooms can be used flexibly.
Booking.com has no return-to-office policy. There’s full flexibility, but employees are encouraged to come in two to three days a week. The pandemic has shown that working from home can be very effective and that some employees are even more productive than at the office – especially in tech companies. Mali: ‘Some come to the office every day, others prefer to work from home. Both are okay. But never showing up at the office is not okay, because then you lose the bond with the company and your team. We also notice that it’s becoming increasingly difficult for people who haven’t been for a long time to come back. You have to protect those people from themselves to a certain extent. But hey, you shouldn’t start thinking for other people. Of course, collaboration also happens via Zoom, but chance meetings and conversations on the stairs, in the elevator or in the restaurant don’t. And they’re also important.’
Photo: Matthijs van Roon.
UNStudio designed an auditorium that's also open to third parties, making the Booking.com porous to local communities.
There’s also a difference between extroverted and introverted employees. Mali: ‘The first group prefers to spend the whole day in the restaurant, while the second would like to be able to close the door in a focus room every now and then to work there for a few hours. We now also notice that some come for a few hours a day. You even have some who just come for the free lunch. When I first heard that, I thought it was outrageous. Then I thought, why not? It’s great that they work at home before and after and see colleagues here. That’s probably even more productive.’ Although meetings and events sometimes occur on Mondays and Fridays, Elshof and Mali say that those days are typically quieter – which is precisely why they appeal to some people.
Work needs to follow lifestyle
How do Elshof and Mali see the future of office work? Mali: ‘I think employees will increasingly wonder which way of working suits them and whether their employer allows them to choose this.’ But Elshof is somewhat sceptical about this idea. ‘The question is whether someone’s wishes will change over time. You may choose a certain way of working in a certain phase of life. Or you think something suits you, but it turns out it’s not good for you at all. How do you feel after five years of working from home?’
The view of office work has drastically changed post-COVID. Hybrid working methods are accepted worldwide. While Booking.com gives employees the freedom to work anywhere, many companies continue to force employees to come back to the office for at least two days a week. Mali: ‘Some companies have not yet transitioned to giving their employees more freedom. Other companies, like us, say: “You get complete freedom, but our office has to be a magnet.” And you don’t do that with free candy, but with spaces where you can be yourself, work and meet colleagues.’ Elshof: ‘And where you can be inefficient at times. I think that’s also very important.’
Cover image: Restaurants, such as this one by Studio Modijefsky, can be easily used for informal meetings. Photo: Matthijs van Roon.
