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Kitchen talk: Public Co-working – changing travel patterns?

How can the trend of nation-wide recruitment and public co-working impact commuter travel?

Offices in Swedish public agencies have much lower occupancy rates than before the pandemic, primarily due to two post-pandemic trends: increased teleworking and nation-wide recruitments. An estimated 100 000 office spaces are vacant, and many agencies are looking for alternative ways to use these spaces. At the same time, it’s increasingly common that public agencies recruit personnel living in locations far away from any of their offices, expecting the employees to work remote full-time.

Time: Wed 2024-03-13 12.00 - 13.00

Video link: Zoom

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In this Kitchen talk Peter Arnfalk will present his recently launched study, highlight a few preliminary findings, and open a discussion on how to assess the potential travel implications using the rather small sample in this pilot study.

The research project studies an initiative where four Swedish public agencies have reached an agreement to share office spaces with each other. In June 2023 they launched a one-year trial with approximately 30 employees who were allowed to work from another agency’s office, closer to where they live.

The objective of the pilot test is to see how well this works out, and to assess whether this kind of ‘Public Co-working’ should be used in other public agencies as well. However, the main objective of Mistra Sams’ involvement is to assess the possible implications on the employees’ travel patterns. How can the trend of nation-wide recruitment and public co-working impact commuter travel, longer trips to the main office, and even decisions on where to live?

Join us on Zoom!

Mistra SAMS Kitchen Talks are a series of informal webinars where we present ongoing research within the program and by our partners. The webinars are held in English.