Change is often difficult for people to embrace. Uncertainty is the compelling culprit behind the resistance to change, which is understandable given that change takes us out of our comfort zone and causes us to question our ability to thrive in altered circumstances. But welcome or not, change has characterized American lives for over two months due to the COVID-19 health crisis. From personal hygiene habits to how we interact with others when we leave home – if we leave home – everyone’s life has been touched by significant change.

An immediate adjustment to remote work was necessary, for example, with well over half of employed Americans now working from home. Further, 60% of these remote workers would prefer to continue to enjoy the flexibility to work from home even when restrictions are fully lifted. This trend will inevitably trigger change in other industries, such as commercial real estate and fuel.

But the need for the traditional office setting will remain even if the number of employees returning will be less than pre-COVID. What might this “office setting” look like? What impact will this experience have on corporate America and the way office environments strive to maintain efficiency and promote public health? There is widespread speculation that the contemporary open-office design will be replaced by a return to cubicles or some form of partitions to promote employee health. Click the link to find out what Carol Bartz, a longtime CEO of firms such as Yahoo, has to say about the “new normal” for American office design: FULL STORY