Workplace design can enhance business performance by supporting the new work modes of a knowledge economy, according to a study of office workers released October 23 by Gensler. The world-renowned architecture firm commissioned Added Value, a WPP company to conduct an online survey with a random sample of 900 participants across the U.S. representing a full spectrum of staff positions and industries. The “Gensler 2008 U.S. Workplace Survey” indicates that companies providing workplaces that are more effective for knowledge work—with as much emphasis on collaboration, learning, and socialization as on individual “heads-down” work—are seeing higher levels of employee engagement, brand equity, and profit, with profit growth up to 14 percent. "As cost control becomes an even greater business priority over the next several years, office space reductions will be a common cost-cutting strategy," says Gensler’s Executive Director Diane Hoskins in a press release. "However, companies risk creating inefficiencies if they simply shrink space and continue with the same workplace paradigm.” For a survey report or tips on workplace design in an economic downturn, visit the Gensler Web site.