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For Houston’s Economy, Experts Predict 2021 to Be a Year of Healing and Uncertainty

2020 will forever be marked indelibly by the global pandemic and economic calamity, but experts predict 2021 will be a year of healing and uncertainty. Many wonder how quickly the economy and society can recover from the effects of COVID-19, and how permanently has COVID-19 changed the way people live, work, travel, shop, and interact.

Within the work realm, Lauri Goodman Lampson believes the pandemic has highlighted the value of the office. A well-designed workplace can foster close collaboration in ways that conference calls and video chats can’t.

In Houston, several new office buildings are expected in 2021, including the transformation of the old Midtown Sears building into the Ion startup accelerator hub, and the relocation of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from California to Springwoods Village, near The Woodlands.

“Everyone’s good at planning formal meetings” over Zoom, Goodman Lampson said. “What’s really missing in the workday is the spontaneous, serendipitous chance encounters. And we’re pretty desperate for it right now.”

Read more in the Houston Chronicle.