The office sector is experiencing unprecedented challenges due to COVID-19. As shelter-in-place orders rolled out earlier this year and companies allowed their employees to work from home, the need for physical office space declined. So, what will happen to the office sector?
CoreNet Global, a nonprofit that represents over 11,000 corporate real estate executives, recently released a survey on the effects of the pandemic. Here are some key findings about the future of the office.
- One-half of the survey respondents said it will be at least June 2021 before 50% of their workers return to work onsite.
- Once workers do return, the office will be a place for collaboration and teamwork, rather than individual work, according to 86% of respondents.
- 64% said that the typical 9-5 workday is a thing of the past.
- Survey respondents expect their company’s employees to spend about half their time in a traditional office, 42% in a home-based office and 7% in a co-working space.
- 70% of survey respondents say their corporate real estate footprint will shrink over the next two years.
- 71% report that their company will not shy away from densely packed urban areas, but 66% say that pandemic readiness on the part of cities will be a factor in their company’s site-selection plans going forward.
Source: century21.com