Telefónica Tech was delighted to welcome Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy, Kate Forbes, to its Glasgow headquarters earlier this week.

Located within the iconic building, The Garment Factory, the Cabinet Secretary was given a tour of Telefónica Tech’s state-of-the-art hybrid office; a cultural hub for facilitating connections, enabling learning and fostering collaboration and innovation, regardless of location.

Our employee surveys and conversations found that many of our colleagues who used to work in the office on a daily basis now want to work from home some of the time.  The last two years taught us that many tasks and meetings can be done effectively without being in the office. However, we strongly believe there is still an important place for office working, but the role of the office has changed. We were delighted to welcome Ms Forbes back to our HQ, this time to showcase our updated space which is fit for the future of work.

The Cabinet Secretary was given a tour of the Telefónica Tech office which includes Microsoft Teams rooms, where content cameras, writable walls, and artificial intelligence-enabled technology allows in-person and virtual meeting participants to whiteboard throughout meetings. Ms Forbes was then shown the office’s designated collaboration spaces, small informal break-out areas, flexible meeting pods and docking stations. The tour showcased that Telefónica Tech spaces truly are places to facilitate connections, enable learning and foster collaboration and innovation.

 

Pictured above: Kate Forbes using one of the office’s artificial intelligence-enabled whiteboard content cameras.

As part of the visit, Ms Forbes was introduced to surveying and design consultancy HK who was brought in to run the hybrid office fit-out project. HK has also worked with Trip.com, FanDuel, Skyscanner, the Leith Agency and Whitespace. Jordan McCaffery, Partner at HK, said: “Our brief was to create one of the best examples of a leading-edge hybrid workplace in the UK. We knew we had to create an immersive community and we wanted to soften the transition from people working at home to being back in the office, that was something that came out strongly. Technology was also central to everything and that’s reflected in what you see at Telefónica Tech today. The design is flexible and it was key that different zones were created, to accommodate different types of working – from quiet and private, to collaborative and social.”

Discussing the visit, Kate Forbes MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy, said: “As an ambitious, fast-growing Scottish company, I was pleased to visit Telefónica Tech’s newly refurbished hybrid office today. The company’s use of innovative new technology to implement seamless hybrid working is allowing staff to work flexibly, while maintaining the same levels of productivity and inclusivity.”

Ms Forbes continued, “Our updated Strategic Framework recognises hybrid working may offer benefits that go beyond public health measures, including attracting and retaining talent, supporting wellbeing, and environmental benefits. We will continue to work with employers, business organisations and trades unions to understand the wider and longer term impacts of hybrid and flexible working as evidence and practice develops.”