How AI is reshaping the workforce: New roles, more cross-functional teams; biggest risk is failing to plan, says report

A Colliers' report found that as AI transforms how work gets done, with immediate impact on the workforce, while implications for the workspace still unfolding. Yet many organisations have not translated anticipated AI driven workforce changes into their workplace and lease strategies, it added.

The report ‘Asia Pacific Workplace Insights: Forces shaping office decisions in 2027’ surveyed 313 corporate occupiers across 11 Asia Pacific markets, spanning Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.

According to the report, AI’s first impact is on the nature of work itself, which in turn elevates the importance of the physical workplace as a critical hub for knowledge and ideas exchange and where the highest value of work happens.

• Data showed a clear expectation across respondents that AI will fundamentally reshape the workforce — 100% respondents expect AI to create new, specialised roles requiring different skills, capabilities and collaboration.
• Further, 62% expect more project-based or cross-functional teams, while 85% expect fewer roles and more productivity.
• In India and Southeast Asia, AI is primarily viewed through a human capital lens. More than 40% rank new AI-driven roles, skills and collaboration as a top priority, driving strong demand for different space types (50%), while footprint reduction remains a low-priority outcome (7%).
• Occupiers are clear that AI will reshape work. The disconnect appears when those expectations don't translate into workplace and property decisions. The report thus noted that the biggest workplace risk is not AI, but failing to plan for it.
• Productivity remains firmly at the centre of the workplace agenda, with more than half of occupiers (55%) identifying business performance as the office's primary mandate, closely followed by collaboration and innovation (52%).
• However, organisations cannot optimise what they do not measure, yet many still lack a formal framework for assessing workplace effectiveness. One in four occupiers (25%) do not formally measure workplace performance, while a further 10% rely primarily on leadership views.
• In India and Southeast Asia, there is a strong 71% office-centric anchor with the preference likely to continue in the near-term.

The report noted that India and Southeast Asia continue to stand out as the region’s most growth-oriented cluster, with occupiers prioritising portfolio resilience and future readiness.

• While occupiers in the cluster remain highly sensitive to geopolitical risks, 34% continue to pursue growth and actively expand their operations.
• Cost efficiency and skill availability remain the leading factors influencing location decisions, highlighting the need for balancing expansion with operational efficiency anf access to talent.
• India has especially emerged as a compelling growth market for most large corporations, with occupiers continuing to invest in workplaces that enhance talent attraction and performance.
• Compared to many regional peers, occupiers are showing a stronger appetite for upgrading to higher-quality office space and reconfiguring workplaces, highlighting a shift towards value creation over cost reduction.

“India remains a high-growth office market in the APAC region, underpinned by a resilient economy and sustained occupier expansion. Beyond strong demand prospects, occupiers increasingly view the office as a strategic enabler of business performance, talent attraction and collaboration,” said Arpit Mehrotra, Managing Director, Office Services, Colliers India.

According to the report, Cost efficiency, talent availability and density remain the defining factors in workplace and location decisions across Asia Pacific. The survey showed organisations continue to prioritise operational cost efficiency and access to talent, outweighing geopolitical considerations.

“While geopolitical factors remain part of the operating environment, the region's long-term growth fundamentals continue to drive occupier decision-making,” it added.

Jocelyn Fernandes is a journalist and editor with nearly 13 years of experience covering the business, corporate, economy and markets beats in news.<br> As chief content producer for around three years at Livemint (Hindustan Times), Jocelyn publishes breaking stories, explainers, features and live blogs on a range of business and economy topics, including the Budget, corporate developments, stock markets, income tax, money and personal finance, cryptocurrency, government policy, impact of US tariffs, international developments and more.<br> Jocelyn's writing philosophy is focused on delivering news in an accurate and accessible format for readers. She thus focuses her news coverage on explainers and FAQs in order to breakdown business, corporate, economic, and policy topics that are of importance to everyday readers.<br> She holds a Bachelors in Mass Media (BMM) and Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in Journalism and Communication and has previously written for online business and markets news site Moneycontrol (Network18), Business-to-business (B2B) trade publications — the industry magazines Power Today and Solar Today (ASAPP Media), and the national news agency United News of India (UNI).<br> Outside of work, Jocelyn keeps up-to-date with local and international news, enjoys reading fiction books, novels and short stories, and enjoys movies, travelling and art. <br> She can be found on X and LinkedIn, and reached by email: <a href="jocelyn.fernandes@htdigital.in">jocelyn.fernandes@htdigital.in</a> <br> X/ Twitter handle: <a href="https://x.com/scribeJocelyn">@scribeJocelyn</a> <br> LinkedIn: <a href="https://in.linkedin.com/in/jocelyn-fernandes-journalist">LinkedIn</a>

Catch all the Business News , Corporate news , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.

More

✕

Wait for it…

Oops! Looks like you have exceeded the limit to bookmark the image. Remove some to bookmark this image.