TAMPA, Fla. — A dermatologist by trade, Dr. Seth B. Forman, thinks going into an office space is still the future of work.
Dr. Forman feels so strongly about it that he purchased an old office complex and is renovating it.
"It's incredibly important for people who are junior in their career or entry-level positions to get exposure to their boss and mentors," Dr. Forman said. "You really can't learn via Zoom alone."
As the Tampa Bay area continues to experience growth, Dr. Forman is targeting road warriors and their daily commute.
"One of the complaints that people have had is the length of the commute. Well, if your office is in North Tampa, and you live in North Tampa, then you've cut your commute down," Dr. Forman said. "It's not free to Park in downtown Tampa. It certainly is free to park here at Magdalene Center."
The office complex on North Florida Avenue is also getting a key feature to help it stand out.
"If you see the big fountain pull in, there's no other fountain," Dr. Forman said.
"How much does a big fountain like this cost to draw attention to people?" ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska asked.
"This one will cost about $80,000," Dr. Forman responded. "I don't have a good financial reason for doing it except that I had to do it."
According to a survey by Resume Builder, nine out of ten companies will return to the office by the end of 2024.
"We have this big umbrella that says return to the office. But that means a lot of different things. So even in when our survey said nine and ten companies would return to the office, well, that doesn't mean five days a week," Stacie Haller, Chief Advisor for Resume Builder, told Paluska. "Organizations are assessing their workspace and how their organizations work. And that leads to, well, do we need this big of an office? Or if we're going totally remote, some companies might want little hubs of meeting places."
Haller said the office's appearance before the pandemic will look different today.
"I came out of an office before the pandemic where people were working shoulder to shoulder and like assembly lines; I don't think that type of office space is going to cut it anymore after people have had some work from home and some less space," Haller said. "So there's a lot of information out there about the offices being redesigned to get people to go back to feel maybe a little more like home when they were at work. There's no one-size-fits-all. I believe that's the good news. So workers could find places where they're comfortable and where they like to work. And companies could establish their own cultures to draw them retain the talent that fits in with how they like to work."
Dr. Forman is going all in with a return to the office.
"And you're not worried about the investment or people going back into their homes and not into the offices?" Paluska asked.
"Do I look worried? No, no, I'm not worried," Dr. Forman responded.
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