Work from home, will it last? Revival of the office park
Long live hybrid working locations
The global pandemic cast many of us into the unknown. With the threat level high, many companies opted to allow their employees to work from home. This in turn created fear for those of us who own office space as an investment.
For employees, working from home largely came with some benefits. Not spending hours commuting between your home and the office probably the largest one. But also, some other benefits, like eating in (Savings on no more takeouts) and generally being more productive.
Remote working unfortunately was not all that for employees. Many lost track of time and spent their mornings, afternoons and nights stuck behind their home desk. Losing the routine of starting you workday and ending it through your commute. Employees have also reported saying that they feel that their “relationships” with colleagues have taken a step back. Remote working has made it difficult to engage in water cooler gossip.
The question is where is this heading? With companies looking to cut-costs, employees generally liking to work from home and the pandemic still part of our lives. Is this what the new normal is going to look like? No more offices, everyone working from anywhere and virtual meetings?
JP Morgan made a statement that they want all their traders to return to work from the first of October, as they believe that a large portion of their traders’ role is to collaborate with other traders (Shoptalk and banter). Netflix co-CEO, Reed Hastings believes working from home is purely negative. Their culture depends on debating ideas, while virtual meetings made this substantially more difficult. Ford motor company has started to rethink their offices. Believing that a medium to long-term solution will be part remote work and part from the office.
A sentiment shared by many, even Mr. Hastings from Netflix is that the working environment will not be a five-day work week from the office. With the open desk and cubicle offices potentially a dying breed, the office of the future will become a place of collaboration and creativity. Where you can get things done and add value. The work of the future will also be a mixture of working from home and going into the office a couple of times a week. Landlords and owners of office space will need to think outside the box. Office space will need to be reinvented, to stay relevant with the future of work.
Sources:
https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/862/208253.html
https://www.barrons.com/articles/news-updates-51599747657
https://www.wsj.com/articles/ford-gears-up-for-the-post-pandemic-office-11598445075
https://www.wsj.com/articles/netflixs-reed-hastings-deems-remote-work-a-pure-negative-11599487219
