The concept of creating agility, the ability to scale up and scale down, and to relocate quickly and easily, is growing in urgency as a priority among corporate real estate executives according to a survey of their leading strategies and focus areas.

As surveyed by CoreNet Global and CBRE, occupiers pursuing agility-focused initiatives increased 5 points to 40%, while those targeting pure space efficiency initiatives fell 21 points to 58%.

"For the second year of this survey, we are seeing a continued trend across industries and geographies where real estate executives are seeking greater operational flexibility as a top strategy to add value across their real estate portfolios," said Julie Whelan, Head of Occupier Research with CBRE.

Accordingly, respondents shared the percentage who will either use or intend to use shared workspaces will increase to 45 percent by 2020, up 15 points from today.  Cost, flexibility in lease terms, and the need for short-term space were the leading decision drivers cited for engaging in this space model.

That said, "today's top occupiers are pursuing increased agility through a multitude of avenues" said Matt Toner, Leader of CBRE Institute and co-lead with Julie Whelan on a forthcoming study by CBRE and CoreNet Global exploring this issue. Their team is seeking to further define trends in occupiers' use of organizational, portfolio, process, financial, and digital agility initiatives – and will have results published by year-end.

"The shared workspace is exciting and one of the most transformative movements we are seeing in corporate real estate today," said Tim Venable, senior vice president with CoreNet Global. "The term shared workspace may refer to serviced/furnished offices, an innovation center, co-working space, or a business incubator. In any iteration, we believe this concept has great potential to change the look and the feel of the workplace over the next 3-5 years."