Insights
Macro recently participated in WORKTECH Financial Workplace New York, held on Wednesday, April 15 at the Mastercard NYC Tech Hub, as a Gold Sponsor - reinforcing its position at the forefront of workplace strategy and facilities management leadership within the financial services sector.
The event brought together senior leaders across workplace, real estate, technology, HR and operations to explore how people, place and technology are shaping workplace performance in an evolving financial landscape.
This year’s WORKTECH Financial Workplace New York provided a timely forum to explore what’s next for workplace experience and engagement in financial services.
Across panel discussions, presentations and fireside chats, a clear shift emerged: workplace strategy is moving beyond space utilisation towards experience, performance and outcomes.
AI‑enabled ecosystems were a consistent theme, with many organisations actively experimenting with agentic workflows to improve service delivery and decision-making. At the same time, challenges around fragmented data, slow governance and disconnected systems surfaced as major bottlenecks, often preventing good strategy from translating into effective day‑to‑day experience.
Macro contributed to a lively fireside chat titled “The Friction Economy: How Facilities Management is New York’s Workplace Performance Engine”
Hosted by WORKTECH, the session featured Anthony Marroney, Regional Operations Director, Americas (Macro), alongside Mauricio Toledo (Warner Music Group) and Suzanne Heidelberger (Real Edge Advisors).
The discussion centred on a critical question facing financial organisations today:
Is the workplace actually prepared to handle the return to office?
The conversation explored how workplace performance is often undermined not by strategy itself, but by the gap between organisational intent and operational reality. Unmanaged friction across space, services and technology can erode productivity, culture and employee experience—while reducing that friction can unlock measurable performance gains.
To learn more about Macro’s views on ‘Workplace Friction’ read our latest Perspectives report
Topics explored during the session included:
A consistent message from the fireside chat was the scale of latent friction present in many organisations.
The office ultimately succeeds - or fails - through the accumulation of small moments: Is the environment comfortable? Are services responsive? Are there spaces for different types of work to take place? Does the workplace genuinely support the work people need to do?
Facilities management now plays a more critical role than ever in minimising friction and delivering an optimal workplace experience. In a city where time, talent and real estate come at a premium, organisations simply cannot afford unnecessary friction at the operational level.
Anthony Marroney, Americas Operations Director, of Macro Group said “This topic matters to me because I’ve seen first‑hand how small operational breakdowns quietly undermine even the best workplace strategies. Employees don’t experience vision statements, they experience temperature, technology, space and service in real time. Reducing friction isn’t about perfection, it’s about respect for people’s time and energy. When we get the operational layer right, we don’t just support work — we enable better outcomes for people and for the business”
Building on the conversations at WORKECH Financial Workplace New York, Macro is partnering with WORKTECH to produce a new whitepaper exploring the Friction Economy.
Launching in June 2026, will examine how facilities management professionals in New York - and beyond - are navigating the friction between organisational intent and employees experience, and what the highest-performing firms are doing differently.
Register your interest to be notified when the Friction Economy report launches.
For many organisations, reducing workplace friction requires more than strategy, it requires exceptional operational delivery.
Macro works with leading financial services organisations to translate workplace ambition into consistent, measurable performance on the ground. From enhancing employee experience and optimising facilities management, to deploying technology that supports smarter, more responsive workplaces, we help organisations remove friction where it matters most.
Ross Abbate, CEO at Macro Group adds “As organisations face increasing pressure to turn workplace strategy into consistent, high‑performing delivery, Macro sees a clear opportunity to support clients in addressing the gap between intent and operational reality. By combining strong local expertise with global best practice, Macro is focused on helping organisations reduce workplace friction, strengthen performance and deliver workplace experiences that genuinely work, every day and at scale”.
If your organisation is navigating return‑to‑office challenges, rising employee expectations or operational complexity, now is the time to re‑examine how your facilities management model supports performance.
Get in touch with Macro to discuss how we can support your facilities management and workplace strategy needs — today and into the future.
Financial Workplace New York is the leading senior-level conference exploring the future of the financial workplace. Now in its 2026 edition, it convenes workplace, real estate, technology, HR, and operations leaders from banks, asset management firms, insurers, and financial institutions who are navigating complex, hybrid, and rapidly changing environments.