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Advertisement

 1. News
 2. /
 3. Business


LOOK INSIDE KFORCE’S HYBRID-FOCUSED ‘OFFICE OF THE FUTURE’ IN TAMPA

The new office at Midtown Tampa was designed with remote and hybrid workers —
including the CEO — in mind.
1.6k
 
11



The Kforce corporate headquarters at Midtown, 1150 Assembly Drive, on Tuesday,
Oct. 25, 2022 in Tampa. Kforce, a staffing and professional services company
that is one of Tampa Bay's largest public corporations, is getting ready to open
its new headquarters in Midtown Tampa, some 18 months after selling its Ybor
property to Darryl Shaw. The new office is designed to be a little smaller, with
hybrid work front of mind. [ DIRK SHADD | Times ]
By
 * Jay CridlinTimes staff


Published Oct. 29|Updated Oct. 29
Advertisement


TAMPA — You can see so much from the virtually 360-degree view from Kforce’s new
corporate headquarters in Midtown Tampa.

Sunsets. Storm clouds. Shoppers coming and going from the Whole Foods and REI
down below. The traffic situation on Interstate 275 and N Dale Mabry.

But it’s what visitors won’t see, said CEO Joe Liberatore, that makes the new
headquarters feel so different from the old one.

“They will not see rows upon rows of cubicles,” Liberatore said. “People don’t
like to be cooped up any longer because of everything that everybody’s been
through with these last two and a half years with the pandemic.”



Crystal Early, Senior Director of Communications and Recognition, works in the
cafe zone at the Kforce corporate headquarters at Midtown, 1150 Assembly Drive,
on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022 in Tampa. Kforce, a staffing and professional services
company that is one of Tampa Bay's largest public corporations, is getting ready
to open its new headquarters in Midtown Tampa, some 18 months after selling its
Ybor property to Darryl Shaw. The new office is designed to be a little smaller,
with hybrid work front of mind. [ DIRK SHADD | Times ]

It’s Kforce’s “office of the future,” Liberatore said — a rethinking of the
corporate atmosphere inside one of Tampa Bay’s largest public companies.

Kforce, a professional staffing services company that last year reported nearly
$1.6 billion in revenue, is going all-in on hybrid work at its Midtown office,
which opens for business Nov. 1. At 25,000 square feet, it’s a fifth the size of
the Ybor site; Kforce’s 600 local employees wouldn’t fit there all at once. But
that’s by design.

“We envision that when people come into the office, they think of it almost more
like a day business trip,” Liberatore said. “Our intent is to be remote-first.
The majority of work will still be completed outside the Kforce office. We’re
encouraging our people to utilize the office when it’s really additive, and it
makes sense, whether that be for team building, collaboration and training, or
when teams have to work on a project.”

Related: The pandemic changed Tampa firm Kforce for the better, its leaders say

The office is only the most recent facet of Kforce’s evolution. Over the last
decade and a half, the company has shifted its focus on tech-focused companies
from about 60% to about 80% of its business. During the pandemic, it adopted a
new logo — now prominently visible atop Midtown West from southbound I-275 — and
a set of corporate values displayed on the wall in the reception area:
Compassion, Integrity, Adaptability, Courage, Unity, Excellence and Fun.



The main entry at the Kforce corporate headquarters at Midtown, 1150 Assembly
Drive, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022 in Tampa. Kforce, a staffing and professional
services company that is one of Tampa Bay's largest public corporations, is
getting ready to open its new headquarters in Midtown Tampa, some 18 months
after selling its Ybor property to Darryl Shaw. The new office is designed to be
a little smaller, with hybrid work front of mind. [ DIRK SHADD | Times ]

When the company sold its Ybor City headquarters to real estate investor Darryl
Shaw last year for $24 million, it had an opportunity to put into practice some
workplace ideas it had already been considering. The company had about 700 work
stations in Ybor, Liberatore said, but not all of them were being utilized.
Projects were being developed offsite, instead of in the office, between teams
in different places.


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“It just became very apparent to us that the world was never going back to where
it was,” Liberatore said.

Related: Midtown Tampa just landed two billion-dollar tenants. Here's how.

At Kforce’s new office, there are relatively few dedicated workstations.
Employees can huddle in collaborative “connection zones” with long tables,
mobile touchscreen Microsoft Surface monitors and 6 1/2-foot standing
whiteboards; or break off into shared “privacy pods” or “focus spaces” for
individual work. Even the executive offices operate hotel-style, meaning they’re
meant to be shared. Kforce has around 15 executive-level positions, and only
five offices. When someone like Liberatore comes in, he’ll have to find an open
spot.



Gathering spaces, including conference rooms, a training room, the boardroom and
an open living room-style meeting area, feature camera-enabled Surface monitors
designed and placed with remote workers front of mind.

Liberatore said few if any workers will be asked to come into the office, and
that concept is not going away. A recent internal study of job seekers showed
that 93 percent preferred hybrid or remote work, he said. Another study showed
that 96 percent of Kforce’s employees felt connected to the company regardless
of where they worked.


The training room at the Kforce corporate headquarters at Midtown, 1150 Assembly
Drive, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022 in Tampa. Kforce, a staffing and professional
services company that is one of Tampa Bay's largest public corporations, is
getting ready to open its new headquarters in Midtown Tampa, some 18 months
after selling its Ybor property to Darryl Shaw. The new office is designed to be
a little smaller, with hybrid work front of mind. [ DIRK SHADD | Times ]

The airy, expansive office has other modern touches. There’s no receptionist;
employees enter with an app on their phone. A small canteen area features an
array of self-serve snacks and drinks. The wide, floor-to-ceiling windows flood
the office in natural light; other areas are lit with warm, hula hoop-sized LED
ring lamps overhead. A “dreamstorm” room features a wall of pegs on which team
members can scribble out and hang ideas during brainstorming sessions.


Related: Midtown Tampa annnounces new 16-story, 400,000-square-foot office tower

And then there’s Midtown Tampa itself. The $1 billion development has
restaurants, bars and a coffee shop where employees can meet up. And it has two
adjoining Marriott hotels, Aloft and Element, where remote workers will stay
when they come to town.

“Especially going into these really nice months in Florida, October through May,
our people can go out and hit WiFi from outside the office and enjoy being
outside, getting fresh air and everything else,” Liberatore said.


Crystal Early, Senior Director of Communications and Recognition leads a team
meeting in the connection zone at the Kforce corporate headquarters at Midtown,
1150 Assembly Drive, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022 in Tampa. Kforce, a staffing and
professional services company that is one of Tampa Bay's largest public
corporations, is getting ready to open its new headquarters in Midtown Tampa,
some 18 months after selling its Ybor property to Darryl Shaw. The new office is
designed to be a little smaller, with hybrid work front of mind. [ DIRK SHADD |
Times ]

In the days before the grand opening, Kforce planned to host board meetings and
a quarterly earnings call from the site. After that, the company’s hybrid era
will begin in earnest. And Liberatore says Kforce won’t look back.

“When people are having a more fulfilled work-life balance, and they’re
delivering the best results in our 60-year history, and this is what they’re
telling us they want, why would we ever backtrack?” he said.


The quiet zone area at the Kforce corporate headquarters at Midtown, 1150
Assembly Drive, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022 in Tampa. Kforce, a staffing and
professional services company that is one of Tampa Bay's largest public
corporations, is getting ready to open its new headquarters in Midtown Tampa,
some 18 months after selling its Ybor property to Darryl Shaw. The new office is
designed to be a little smaller, with hybrid work front of mind. [ DIRK SHADD |
Times ]
Up next:Hurricane Ian’s lucrative cleanup deals generate new storm


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 * Jay Cridlin
   
   Economic Development Reporter

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------






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