The second part examined the historical role of offices in cities, the economy, and for individual organizations. In this part, we discuss how remote work affects productivity, creativity, corporate culture...
In preparing this report, Cushman & Wakefield Research and their partners from George Washington University analyzed existing academic and industry research on how remote work affects:
- productivity, innovation and creative approach
- corporate culture and branding
- employee satisfaction and retention
- office location strategy related to pedestrian environment
From this report follow the following conclusions, which are important to keep in mind:
- A combination of remote and office work formats will likely maximize employee and organizational productivity
- Employees want to have the ability to choose where to work, but only a few want to work exclusively outside the office
- There are clear negative aspects of remote work from home caused by the pandemic. Employees working from home feel disconnected from corporate culture, their personal well-being deteriorates. They also believe they have fewer opportunities for learning, especially in informal mentoring.
- The lack of office work has a disproportionately negative impact on some workers (e.g., young employees and new hires).
Based on this fundamental understanding, this report takes the following analytical steps in studying what the future office will look like in a post-COVID-19 world. For this, feedback from investors, tenants, and placement specialists was studied, and historical indicators of remote work prevalence were analyzed.
One thing is clear: the purpose of the workplace is changing. When we get to the other side of this experience, and COVID-19 is no longer a health concern, no one will expect employees to come to the office primarily to answer email—these and any other tasks requiring focus can be done anywhere. So, what purpose does the office serve in the future? How will this purpose affect how tenants think about their portfolio square footage, placement strategy, and office layout? What are the implications of the changing nature of offices for office owners, corporate users, and thought leaders? What level of remote work prevalence should be expected? What variables influence its prevalence? By examining these questions, this report determines the potential implications of the future office.
Chapter #1
Feedback from focus groups: the purpose of the office is changing
Key ideas obtained from owners, tenants, and commercial real estate agents regarding remote work, flexibility, office layout and its use, business results, and location strategy.
Chapter #2
Implications of changing the purpose of the office
The most important ways in which organizations will adapt their strategies, processes, and leadership to create future workplace ecosystems that ensure maximum company performance.
Chapter #3
Assessments of the impact of remote work from home on office occupancy
Analysis of the influence of historical events on absorption to assess the impact of increasing the share of remote work on office absorption (using data from 35 US markets).
Chapter 1. Feedback from focus groups: the purpose of the office is changing focus group overview
In the process of preparing this report, focus groups and interviews were conducted with 32 owners, tenants, and commercial real estate agents to obtain the most complete picture of the future workplace.
The obtained data were supplemented with opinions from Cushman & Wakefield consultants who work directly with hundreds of tenant clients, as well as data collected within the Experience per SFTM consulting tool. These discussions involved investors with assets under management of just under $900 billion USD and tenants with annual revenue of $574 billion USD. Additionally, among the participants were executive directors of business improvement districts (BIDs)がが
