One visible measure of how the pandemic has changed society is in the places where people gather – or rather used to gather – to work together. The vacancy rate for office space in the United States hovers at near double the level of 2019, reflecting the enduring appeal of both remote and hybrid work. That is driving a focus on “repositioning” – or remodeling – buildings to make them a setting that workers enjoy.

How old buildings are being made new reflects more than pandemic-related concerns, of course. Energy efficiency and other solutions for climate change come into play. Within offices, new designs underscore what business leaders see as a great shift: a redefining of work that tethers organizational strength to human wellbeing and worth.

The rise of spirituality-driven organizations marks the beginning of an era “no longer defined by mechanization, isolation, competition, and self-interest, but by harmony, unity, spirituality, and shared destiny,” write Eden Yin, a business professor at the University of Cambridge, and Abeer Mahrous, a marketing professor at Cairo University, in a paper published in the Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences.