CORPORATE REAL ESTATE THROUGH 2025: Corporate Real Estate Professionals Could Evolve Into “Experience Managers”

CoreNet Global Charts The Future In A Sweeping Global Research Study

JANUARY 15, 2019, ATLANTA, GA – In a sweeping, global study of the corporate real estate profession, CoreNet Global has identified the most influential trends through 2025 and beyond. FutureForward is the most recent example of CoreNet Global’s long history of accurately predicting the evolution of corporate real estate (CRE).

“It’s not farfetched that the term ‘corporate real estate’ might not exist in 2025,” said CoreNet Global Chair David Kamen, MCR.h. “We are more now about work enablement and experience and that might not come through CRE. It’s more about engagement and not about desks and chairs anymore. It’s a holistic look at the space.”

In developing FutureForward, CoreNet Global embarked on an 18-month initiative in 2017 to envision the association model of the future in four key areas (The Future of Belonging, The Future of Convening, The Future of Information & Content and The Future of Learning). Workgroups met virtually and around the world with futurists, economists, sociologists, and other subject matter experts to develop forecasts. The aim of the study is to ensure that CoreNet Global remains relevant to its members as the profession – and associations – evolve.

Among the trends identified in FutureForward:

• The CRE role in major corporations is becoming more strategic in support of the business’s A common view among the focus groups and member interviews for the FutureForward 2025 initiative is that employee experience is increasingly an important goal and needs to be thoughtfully addressed on the CRE agenda. Some believe that CRE executives will become “experience managers.”
• CRE increasingly needs to focus on employees, using techniques such as design That will require more reliance on soft skills – a natural curiosity, being able to listen, having a high degree of empathy, being creative and taking risks – rather than traditional hard skills such as financial analysis.
• The next generation workplace likely will be built around workplace networks that will support mobile workplace complexity. Increasingly, CRE will need to provide technology-enabled workplace networks that will allow for greater agility and flexibility for both the organization and the employee, as well as long-term enterprise workplace effectiveness for the
• The gig economy – driven by an increasingly contingent workforce composed of freelancers, temporary contract workers, and independent contractors – is expected to make a powerful impact on how organizations are structured, how they function and how they are
• Large corporations are relying more on outsourcing partners as in-house CRE teams are becoming smaller, leaner and more focused on
• Automation will be a game changer, but it might not be quite as quick to materialize as some expect.
• The need to understand tech will continue to grow as data analytics, AI, robotics and automation drives change across CRE, as well as the enterprise itself, and other sectors. By 2025, CRE will require more digital business skills, including expertise in areas such as business intelligence, AI, cognitive reasoning and
• Risk management is growing in importance and impacts the entire breadth of the CRE

“The built environment is affected by a number of external factors, including the environment, economy, shifting demographics, geopolitics and technological advancements that will continue to evolve for better or worse in the years ahead,” said CoreNet Global CEO Angela Cain. “CoreNet Global will remain relevant by looking ahead of the curve and providing our members with the insights they need to stay abreast of these changes as they focus on indispensability and relevancy in the year 2025 and beyond.”

About CoreNet Global

CoreNet Global is the world’s leading professional association for corporate real estate (CRE) and workplace executives, service providers, and economic developers. CoreNet Global’s more than 11,000 members, who include 70% of the top 100 U.S. companies and nearly half of the Global 2000, meet locally, globally and virtually to develop networks, share knowledge, learn and thrive professionally. For more information, please visit www.corenetglobal.org.