China in the Data Sphere

New ways of working, new technologies, and higher costs lead to profound changes in the design and management of Chinese workplaces.

In 2018, much of China’s commercial activities is concentrated within the nation’s most populated cities: Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wuhan, Hong Kong, Chongqing, and Shenyang. In 2012, the population in Shanghai was 15,789,000; today, there are 33,210,000 people living and working in Shanghai. In 2012, there were 11,106,000 people in Beijing; this number stands at 17,231,000 in March this year. The population in 1,104-kilometer Hong Kong has increased from 7,000,000 in 2012 to 9,210,000 in 2018.

This urban boom has forced businesses in China to rethink how best to use space at the workplace. Office rentals have increased by approximately 60 percent in most first-tier Chinese cities. Density compression and real estate are key concerns that companies now have to take into consideration when designing offices. Businesses have to reconfigure organizational structures in order to maximize space, increase their data storage, transfer capabilities, and cut costs. Big companies like Sinopec, China Mobile, and Bank of China are hardest hit by increased rentals. The answer to real estate inflation in China is the rise of the freelancer and the virtual office.

While freelancing had already become mainstream in the United States and Europe, it only took off in China about four years ago. In 2014, when large Chinese corporations started hiring more contractors and freelancers, there was an overriding sense of paranoia among managers that their “unmonitored” employees who work from home would put in fewer hours than an office-bound worker. But in 2015, Seioglobal launched Gong Zhe, a software that not only tracks employee working hours but also ensures that the employee does not take on other paid work during his term of employment. Gong Zhe was installed in offices throughout the country with much success, and employers observed that by hiring freelancers. The result? They actually got more for their money.

In 2018, the world of the nine-to-five professional worker in China is almost obsolete. Most skilled university graduates no longer need to report to an office. Instead they plug into clouds and internal information networks and work from virtual offices. Today, 68 percent of white-collar employees in China are untethered, hyperconnected, and mobile, and more Chinese are working for companies in the U.S., Australia, Southeast Asia, South America, Russia, and Europe. The “cyberpresence” of the Chinese worker can be felt across the globe.

Headquarters: The “family” meeting space

Chinese offices in 2018 are looking less like cubicle farms with universal workstations and more like living rooms and classrooms where teams of workers flitter in and out throughout the workweek. Architecture, interiors, and product design are now flourishing as businesses reinvent themselves, shedding their gulag image for a more human-centric, Google-inspired one. Kitchens, outdoor landscaped exercise areas, meditation zones, bars, and children’s nurseries can now be found in many offices in the country’s major cities. Instead of cubicles, offices now have multiple lounge rooms, “brainstorming enclaves,” and “discussion dens”—cozy spaces with plush sofas, coffee tables, coffee machines, and white boards and cork boards where employees can meet in an informal and nonthreatening environment to discuss the tasks of the day. These enclaves and dens are designed to foster increased intimacy and trust between teams, workers, and managers. The model is that of a family living room, where workers can drop by anytime and feel at ease and inspired.

The main office spaces, now called headquarters, are designed to support people, so spatial configuration, acoustics, and lighting are given much more thought. Enhanced cognitive performance and physical well-being have become a priority as businesses acknowledge the fact that happy workers mean increased productivity. Osim massage chairs and reflexology mats are a part of the corporate landscape.

New Technologies

This new approach to making workspaces more beautiful and comfortable means more jobs for architects and interior and product designers in China. Many U.S.-based architects have set up offices in China and there are also a growing number of local architecture and design firms that are making waves within the country as well as globally.

One of these companies is BEB Greater China. Led by Australian Steve Hogan, it is Asia’s leading designer and manufacturer of office partition systems. Specializing in demountable office partitions, video conferencing, and glass-operable walls, BEB’s systems allow for versatile configurations, so spaces can change in accordance with the event or function that it is needed for. BEB’s partitions have dual functions, so a partition wall can serve as a

mirror, a light source, an emergency exit light, or a giant video-conferencing or television screen. They can be found in more than half of the headquarters and home offices in China today.

BEB hires only Chinese workers and trains them so they work independently, question traditions, and think out of the box. “The Chinese are highly creative but also incredible pragmatic,” says Hogan, “and they don’t complain about working long hours. That’s a great combination when it comes to product design. The only problem with the average Chinese worker is that he’s too accustomed to taking orders from his bosses, which stifles his ability to come up with new ways of doing and making things. What Chinese workers need is a new way of thinking. I think the changing workplace is going to eventually bring out the best in the Chinese people.”

All offices in China and around the world are equipped with Mediascape Version 5. Designed by Steelcase, Herman Miller, and Knapp AG, it is a sophisticated version of the walk-up-and-connect HD video-conferencing device created by Steelcase in 2012, which allows people to plug their laptops into a transmission device so they can share their presentations with their fellow workers. The latest version of Mediascape comes with augmented-reality glasses and smart glasses, as well as virtual gaming functions for a complete virtual-reality experience.

New roles

One age-old Chinese professional who is benefiting from the new office is the feng shui master. Before an office plan is drawn out, the architects and engineers sit down with a feng shui master and, together with a data analyst, they work out algorithms that help to create a productive, harmonious, and profitable workplace. Colour experts and plant and flower consultants are also called in to lend their services.

New roles have evolved as specialized knowledge workers are required to operate the technology in headquarters. Data-system experts are more important than ever, as most offices rely on big data stored in a cloud. In 2018, the personal secretary or administrative assistant is a data-system expert who is armed with new skills and is in high demand. New roles like talent coordinator, workflow supervisor, knowledge manager, meeting organizer, and liaison were created around 2014. Talent coordinator is a specialized role that combines the skills of a recruiter with those of a human resource professional. Much like a movie producer, the talent coordinator’s job is to assemble the right people from around the country or globally to work on a project. The workflow supervisor’s job is to facilitate the workflow between teams and managers and teach freelancers how to use company resources. The knowledge manager is the go-to person if a freelancer has any questions relating to company policies and information or project specific information. The meeting organizer and liaison focus on scheduling virtual and phone meetings across the globe, a task that has become increasingly complex with virtual meetings comprising as many as 50 people in 20 different time zones.

These new administrators are among the minority of workers in China who are required to work from headquarters. Most administrators hold MBAs and are good with techno-logic and numbers. They are all required to speak and write proficiently in Mandarin, English, and a third language; Hindi, Tamil, Russian, Arabic, and Spanish-speaking administrators are sought after these days. All administrators must also be able to speak at least three regional dialects in order to be considered for the role. In the last two years, universities in China have been offering a Masters in Virtual Business Administration (MVBA), which has been very popular. These new administrators who have to work with big data and complex company-specific software are some of the highest paid workers in China today. Their average wage is about 750 Yuan an hour, which is 80 percent more that the average freelance professional.

Managers and mobile workers

With a large number of freelancers and contract workers, accountability becomes more important than ever. Instead of having a large pool of managers and supervisors, businesses in China have cut down managerial jobs by 70 percent, so most headquarters are now run by two to eight managers, with between five and 12 administrative staff for support. The rationale is that by reducing the number of senior staff, freelancers know exactly who to report to, and the company’s CEO knows whom to speak to when things don’t go as planned. Most senior managers live either close to or within the headquarters building, so they are always available if the CEO needs feedback, or if there is a work emergency.

In 2016, China’s big five—PetroChina, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Mobile, and China Life Insurance—who hire thousands of information workers, built “executive-suite complexes”—high-rise, apartment-style developments with units that function as homes and virtual offices for their employees and their families. By taking care of employee housing costs, these mammoth companies have seen increased loyalty and a 22 percent increase in productivity, which translates to an average of 9.7 percent annual profit for all five companies in the

first quarter of the 2018 fiscal year.