How we work, Where we work and What offices we need will be different after the biggest remote working experience ever conducted at global scale. New locations are opening for people to live and for companies to operate from. There is no doubt that demand for traditional offices, especially in major cities, will drop materially. Demand will however emerge in new locations and in places that will offer a convergence of office, residential, hospitality and R&D.
There is a strong consensus from both employers and employees for a return to the office between 2 to 3 days a week. Remote allowance will however differ significantly by business sector and SMEs are less likely to adopt extensive remote working policies.
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The choice of place, space and workplace will increasingly be distributed on a wider geography. Larger companies will provide a greater choice of workplace locations to tap into new talent pools and reduce commuting burden in major cities.
Regional cities will rise: more affordable locations with good quality of life are rapidly attracting talent and employers generating new office demand.
Re-urbanisation will accelerate: attracting talent back to the office will be a major concern for all employers with the focus on central, accessible and vibrant locations within the city.
The office as a collaboration place: with individual work shifting to home, the majority of space provision will be collaborative. Offices will need to provide hospitality-grade shared spaces.
The focus on sustainability and employee wellbeing will be further reinforced in order to bring talent back to the office.
New real estate products will emerge at the intersection of offices with residential, hospitality, R&D and education.
Our online survey was conducted between March and May 2021. We had a balanced response from all major business sectors with local and international firms representing an estimated total of 15 million sqm of office occupancy.
Most companies already have strong views on their post-Covid workplace strategy.
96% of respondents already had remote working arrangements pre-Covid.
76% of respondents already have strong views on their post-Covid strategy.
The consensus on 2 to 3 days of remote working will further drive the adoption of agile workplaces.
Remote working allowance pre- & post-Covid (days / week).
Average remote working allowance pre- & post-Covid (days / week).
Est. post-Covid average occupancy based on one additional day of remote working per week.
Share of respondents implementing desk sharing pre- vs. post-Covid.
Corporate re-urbanisation trend will continue post-Covid.
Companies location strategies and planned changes post-Covid.
2.5x more companies plan to move to more central locations than less central.
Overview and key takeaways for all business sectors.
There are significant differences in post-Covid strategies depending on your business sector.
Average remote working allowance pre- & post-Covid (days / week).
Potential space reduction within the next 5 years (%).
"As employers, we have an opportunity to create an even better workplace – one that allows us to be more connected to each other, find more balance between work and home, and advance equality – ultimately leading to increased innovation and better business outcomes.”
"Our recent experience has demonstrated that, whilst we are a people-focussed business and collaboration is key, remote working has worked remarkably well and we can deliver high quality work whilst working remotely. Conversely, it has also reinforced the huge benefits we and our clients obtain from face-to-face interaction and the value of our offices as hubs of teamwork and learning and this policy does not detract from that.”
"Given the positive experience and efficient measures already taken in the context of the Covid-19 crisis, PSA has decided to strengthen teleworking and to make it the benchmark for activities not directly related to production.”
“We are excited about the future as we step into a new era for the Bank and the positive impact we can make on our productivity, wellbeing and carbon footprint. We also see this as an opportunity to appeal to a wider and more diverse potential future workforce.”
"We’ve long promoted flexible working, and we hope today’s announcements make it much more the norm rather than the exception. We want our people to feel trusted and empowered. These changes are in direct response to soundings from our people, who’ve said they value a mix of working from home and in the office. We want to help enshrine new working patterns, so they outlast the pandemic.”
“We anticipate never going back to five days a week in the office. That seems very old-fashioned now.”
"Our new ways of working assume flexibility as a given and is based on trust, empowerment and a culture that focuses on behaviours and results. They reinforce our reputation as a great company for great people, allowing our people to be at their best and strengthening performance, well-being, engagement and a greener footprint.”
“This is a drastic change from where we started the year. We have historically discouraged employees from working from home, preferring face time and in-office collaboration versus virtual exchanges. Our old preferences have been debunked during the pandemic.”
"We have introduced an updated flexibility policy that applies to all office-based associates. The policy shifts responsibility from manager-approved to manager-informed, empowering associates to choose how, where and when they work within their country of employment."
"The company has announced it will have two “core working days” in the office as normal, primarily for collaboration and dialogue. Every team member is then to decide largely on their own where they work on the three flexible days – at the office, from home or elsewhere. We aim to achieve a mix, a hybrid working model, for when the pandemic is over. We call it Flex Forward."
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