CBRE says in its conclusion “An analysis of 56 large transactions carried out in 2021,” titled “Remote work and surface improvement: Tomorrow’s office will not necessarily be smaller.”
Thus the council argues that “aside from the impact of COVID-19 and telecommuting, this move can also be explained by the search for greater efficiency. In addition, the share of new and restructured buildings dominates the main transactions, yet direct buildings offer a square meter per square meter ratio Increasingly efficient employee ”…and to estimate: “More than a significant reduction in square meters, it is a transfer of needs per square meter elsewhere and a geographic reconfiguration that we could see in the medium and long term”…
The evolution of demand seems unquestionable when reading JLL’s analysis which, for the seventh year in a row, publishes “The Top 10 Global Trends in Commercial Real Estate, based on a combination of studies of 6000 office workers and 1000 companies around the world.” He notes, among other things, that “48% of employees believe their company will eventually adopt a hybrid model, based on two to three days of office work per week.” But, “in fact, one in four companies has not yet clarified their approach to hybrid work.” The board stated that “however, this period of uncertainty has been exploited by some of them who have embraced the logic of ‘test and learn’, experimenting, for example, with co-working and the use of third places in order to organize a hybrid. Working closely as much as possible with their organizational needs”… Another finding confirmed: “40% of companies plan to increase their use of co-working and flexible spaces”…
In any case, the need for offices seems very real, noting that “81% of companies want their employees to return to the office in 2022; they were 77% in 2021!”. This is the result of a survey conducted by Génie des Lieux for the second year in a row among more than 3,500 professionals “in order to know their vision for the future work and the changes that have been made in their company since the beginning of the health crisis”. Here again, another finding to note: “57% of companies will not allow employees to choose where they work (52% in 2021)”…
Sure, it looks like the office still has a bright future ahead…