A new divide for offices
Technology and an innovative approach to sustainability and wellbeing are set to secure the future of the office. In a world where the office now has to compete with the comfort of working from home, it needs to find a new purpose to persuade people to return to the commute, at least some of the time.
Rethinking Real Estate by Dror Poleg, co-chair of the Urban Land Institute’s Technology and Innovation Council, was a book narrowly ahead of its time.
Published just before the pandemic, and quickly the talk of the London and New York real estate scenes, Poleg’s book predicted the rise of technology and increased flexible working in the weeks before they became global phenomena.
Fast forward 12 months and premium, new-build office buildings that offer high-tech, experiential spaces, with a focus on collaboration and interaction, are proving popular, while a more challenging future is predicted for the older space.
The 1,500 office occupiers we polled around the world agreed in overwhelming numbers that the changes brought about during the pandemic are here to stay.
In our Real Estate Reset report published in September 2020, 42% of office occupiers said they would work from home more. This has rocketed to 81% this year.
Likewise the importance of sustainability has resulted in a stark change in perceptions of business travel. Last year 34% of office occupiers expected office workers to do less international travelling. This figure is now 86%.
How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statements about how working life will change over the next five years? (Office occupiers)
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What positive impact does a focus on employee wellbeing in the office environment have? (Office occupiers)
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As a result of COVID-19, how do you expect the allocation of space per person to change in your office? (Office occupiers)
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While people may only work from an office two or three days a week, the reassuring news for owners and developers is that the occupiers we polled foresee an increase in the space needed per person, potentially balancing out the reduced number of people working in an office. Prompted by wellbeing concerns and a desire to generate a more comfortable and collaborative working environment, this reverses a trend over recent years for office densification.
Almost three-quarters of those we polled whose offices are in city centre properties expect their office space per person to increase, with people having spent time working from home reflecting on ever-reduced space allocations during the 2000s and 2010s.
Recent JLL research identifies that 22% of office workers feel less productive at home compared with 37% who feel more productive than in the office and 42% who saw no difference.
