The report examines current thinking about the world of work and highlights how companies are responding to agile working. Through extensive research and surveys of top global executives, VWork has established a measure for companies to monetise agility that will impact their bottom lines.

"As the concept of virtuality gains ground, monetising agility and creating a robust business case for changing the way we work will become essential," says Bob Gaudreau, executive vice-president at Regus.

"The future of work will involve organisations moving toward a more flexible work model, where employees will be allowed to buy their own office space."

As part of the report, Regus and Unwired surveyed 600 executives from around the world to gauge their thoughts on the current state of the workplace. In an online survey, respondents were asked about topics such as virtual working, mobility, collaboration, and utilisation of office space.

Almost 60% of survey respondents from large organisations predicted a decrease in the need for office space as a result of future work styles, with only 7% predicting an increase in space required. Over half of the respondents (51%) indicated that the office would become a place for occasional use.

"It will be critical for companies to find a new measure for the cost of 'provisioning work' that leaves behind the traditional approaches of rent and rates in a 'per square foot' fixed world," says Philip Ross, CEO of Unwired.

"As the utilisation of an office today is typically only 45%, empty desks no longer make sense in a world where mobility and agility will become accepted by people as the most effective and sustainable way of working."

As part of the report, Regus and Unwired have established a measure for monetising agility at work. Corporations will be able to leverage this as they move away from the historic one-person-one-desk approach to work provision. In their study, Regus and Unwired have identified a series of value dividends that shape a vision of 'provisioning work' in a 'buy your own' world.

According to the report, 62.5% of large enterprises surveyed had already rolled out new ways of working while 59% of respondents said they no longer struggled to work effectively outside the workplace.

Only 12% of people would like to work from home, while 64% of respondents believe the ideal commute to work is under 20 minutes and 25% want less than a 10 minute commute.

Currently, 32% of respondents that work for large organisations spend 41 minutes to an hour commuting every day, and 27% spend over an hour.

The report finds that 79% of respondents feel they have the right technology to be productive in their workplace and increasingly are being given technology enablers to be able to work from any location.

More than half (51%) are enabled with everything they need, while 42% have a few tools but expressed that technology capabilities could be improved.

According to the report, 71% of those surveyed believe that younger workers, the millennials and the generation still at school will be more accepting of virtual working and reject the traditional office.