As HR professionals increasingly influence decisions around future workspaces, Mike Wiseman examines the best office locations in London for ‘Zillennials’, and they’re not where you might expect them to be.

The war for talent is taking place closer to home for ‘Zillennials’ – the micro-generation of 23- to 33-year-olds spanning Millennials and Generation Z. With work-life balance a far greater priority, this demographic is gravitating towards office locations that align with their lifestyle, offering a seamless integration of live, work and play experiences. As a result, businesses seeking to attract and retain top young talent in London must look to emerging hubs that are designed around the needs of a new generation.

Office locations

Workspace flexibility: Optimising your office needs for purpose

Most workers think meaningful office attendance is fair

Office campuses can retain talent in the workplace

Zillennials overwhelmingly prefer working in an office. This is evidenced by this demographic attending the office almost four days per week at property developer British Land’s London office campuses, which accommodate 46,000 people. But Zillennials demand environments that justify the effort to get there.

Thirty-nine per cent of employees consider outdoor spaces impactful and important but they are currently not well provided for in their workplace, according to JLL’s Global HX Survey 2024. Post-covid, the emphasis on health and wellbeing has intensified, meaning employees expect their workspace to offer access to green spaces, lots of light, fresh air, wellness and leisure facilities, great restaurants with health-conscious menus, and culture: the constituent components of truly great places – and rightly so.

Lifestyle-led locations

With traditional strongholds – such as the City of London and West End – largely full, new locations can address this supply shortage whilst also benefiting from being designed from the ground up around this younger generation: something that traditional districts, which have evolved over centuries, can’t easily replicate. This is precisely why new locations are gaining traction as corporates are increasingly tempted to look beyond the traditional central business districts in pursuit of a more holistic, uncompromising offering for their staff.

Examples of lifestyle-led locations that tick many of these boxes include Canada Water, Battersea Power Station, and King’s Cross – areas which are proving the value of their mixed-use proposition and the power of blank slate development that can be tailored to modern occupier requirements.

While you can create a quality workspace bursting with the best amenities – whether that be roof terraces, state-of-the-art wellness facilities, communal lounges, mindfulness spaces or quality culinary options – a building’s surrounding infrastructure and natural environment can be more challenging to mould. Nearly three-quarters (71%) of the workforce want to work in places that promote a healthy lifestyle, safety and wellbeing (JLL Workforce Preference Barometer 2022), so people are naturally drawn to spaces that can facilitate al fresco work, socialising, exercise and leisure.

Young talent pools

Zillennials are reluctant to waste unnecessary time commuting long distances and are put off by sterile, soulless corporate environments. They want a straightforward route to the office, on foot, bike or ideally one form of public transport.

Employers ought to consider where their younger employees live and how they commute. For example, more under-35s can reach Canada Water within 45 minutes than any other central London location (JLL). With this comes an opportunity for businesses to tap into the significant young professional talent pools in nearby and directly connected areas such as Peckham, Forest Hill and Brockley in south-east London, and Shoreditch and Haggerston in the east.

Property developer British Land and pension fund AustralianSuper are creating a new district for central London across 53 acres at Canada Water. It’s where the Jubilee and Overground lines cross, providing rapid commuting options for nearby talent, and it’s just one stop from the Elizabeth line. You can be in the West End in 10 minutes by tube, walk to Tower Bridge in 20, or be in the City by bike in 10, providing hard-to-beat accessibility to London’s commercial, residential and leisure hotspots.

With 300,000 sq ft of state-of-the-art sustainable all-electric workspace in the project’s first phase, which is due to complete this Spring, Canada Water represents a major departure from traditional office locations. Sustainability and wellbeing have been embedded into the project from the outset, with a focus on green infrastructure, open spaces, and a thriving public realm.

Connecting with nature

As children, outdoor breaks – such as a quick run around the playground – are essential for both wellbeing and development. Yet, as we grow older, the instinct to seek fresh air and movement often gets deprioritised, despite its critical role in supporting mental health. Forward-thinking employers should recognise this need, ensuring their office environment not only allows but also encourages employees to connect with nature.

As it comes forward over the next decade, Canada Water will offer 12 acres of public realm, including a new 3.5-acre park, tree-lined streets, a new town square the size of Leicester Square, and a green corridor linking the 130 acres of open spaces already in existence surrounding it. This will sit alongside 1 million sq ft of world-class retail and cultural spaces, including the globally renowned cultural venue Printworks, which has planning permission to return permanently, in addition to 3,000 new homes, fostering a vibrant, mixed-use community that offers everything you need to live, work and socialise.

Canada Water exemplifies a new wave of workplace design that prioritises people, nature, and culture. British Land has already seen the benefits of this approach across its portfolio of established London office campuses at Broadgate, Regent’s Place and Paddington. This is why the public realm in each of these destinations has been consistently strengthened under its ownership, reliably attracting forward-thinking businesses such as Citadel, A&O Sherman and JLL, to name a few.

As competition for the best talent intensifies, it has become clear that choosing places that are designed around people is critical for a business’s strategy. This means providing the infrastructure to help individuals keep fit and healthy, alongside access to calming retreats in nature and opportunities to experience groundbreaking cultural moments from an office’s doorstep. With Canada Water setting a new benchmark for urban development, the next generation of professionals might finally find a workplace that truly meets their expectations.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required) OptOut From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.EmailThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );

/* = 0;if(!is_postback){return;}var form_content = jQuery(this).contents().find('#gform_wrapper_129');var is_confirmation = jQuery(this).contents().find('#gform_confirmation_wrapper_129').length > 0;var is_redirect = contents.indexOf('gformRedirect(){') >= 0;var is_form = form_content.length > 0 && ! is_redirect && ! is_confirmation;var mt = parseInt(jQuery('html').css('margin-top'), 10) + parseInt(jQuery('body').css('margin-top'), 10) + 100;if(is_form){jQuery('#gform_wrapper_129').html(form_content.html());if(form_content.hasClass('gform_validation_error')){jQuery('#gform_wrapper_129').addClass('gform_validation_error');} else {jQuery('#gform_wrapper_129').removeClass('gform_validation_error');}setTimeout( function() { /* delay the scroll by 50 milliseconds to fix a bug in chrome */ }, 50 );if(window['gformInitDatepicker']) {gformInitDatepicker();}if(window['gformInitPriceFields']) {gformInitPriceFields();}var current_page = jQuery('#gform_source_page_number_129').val();gformInitSpinner( 129, 'https://www.personneltoday.com/wp-content/plugins/gravityforms/images/spinner.svg', true );jQuery(document).trigger('gform_page_loaded', [129, current_page]);window['gf_submitting_129'] = false;}else if(!is_redirect){var confirmation_content = jQuery(this).contents().find('.GF_AJAX_POSTBACK').html();if(!confirmation_content){confirmation_content = contents;}jQuery('#gform_wrapper_129').replaceWith(confirmation_content);jQuery(document).trigger('gform_confirmation_loaded', [129]);window['gf_submitting_129'] = false;wp.a11y.speak(jQuery('#gform_confirmation_message_129').text());}else{jQuery('#gform_129').append(contents);if(window['gformRedirect']) {gformRedirect();}}jQuery(document).trigger("gform_pre_post_render", [{ formId: "129", currentPage: "current_page", abort: function() { this.preventDefault(); } }]); if (event && event.defaultPrevented) { return; } const gformWrapperDiv = document.getElementById( "gform_wrapper_129" ); if ( gformWrapperDiv ) { const visibilitySpan = document.createElement( "span" ); visibilitySpan.id = "gform_visibility_test_129"; gformWrapperDiv.insertAdjacentElement( "afterend", visibilitySpan ); } const visibilityTestDiv = document.getElementById( "gform_visibility_test_129" ); let postRenderFired = false; function triggerPostRender() { if ( postRenderFired ) { return; } postRenderFired = true; jQuery( document ).trigger( 'gform_post_render', [129, current_page] ); gform.utils.trigger( { event: 'gform/postRender', native: false, data: { formId: 129, currentPage: current_page } } ); if ( visibilityTestDiv ) { visibilityTestDiv.parentNode.removeChild( visibilityTestDiv ); } } function debounce( func, wait, immediate ) { var timeout; return function() { var context = this, args = arguments; var later = function() { timeout = null; if ( !immediate ) func.apply( context, args ); }; var callNow = immediate && !timeout; clearTimeout( timeout ); timeout = setTimeout( later, wait ); if ( callNow ) func.apply( context, args ); }; } const debouncedTriggerPostRender = debounce( function() { triggerPostRender(); }, 200 ); if ( visibilityTestDiv && visibilityTestDiv.offsetParent === null ) { const observer = new MutationObserver( ( mutations ) => { mutations.forEach( ( mutation ) => { if ( mutation.type === 'attributes' && visibilityTestDiv.offsetParent !== null ) { debouncedTriggerPostRender(); observer.disconnect(); } }); }); observer.observe( document.body, { attributes: true, childList: false, subtree: true, attributeFilter: [ 'style', 'class' ], }); } else { triggerPostRender(); } } );} ); /* ]]> */

 

HR business partner opportunities on Personnel Today

Browse more HR business partner jobs