Commercial Update | March 2021

After A Year Of Working From Home, The COVID Office Shakeup Is Just Getting Started

As COVID-related restrictions ease and offices begin to re-open, most companies have not yet decided what the future looks like for them, in terms of office space. Many employers and employees alike have found that productivity can still be maintained at a higher level than previously thought while working remotely. But can that hold true in the long-term? And do most employees want to continue to work from home, or would they prefer to be back in the office setting? These are the big questions to be addressed as we move into the post-pandemic office-scape.

Our commercial advisor, Todd Brown, provided the following bullet points to help summarize the main points of the article:

• A recent office survey showed that demand rose 21% between December 2020 and January 2021 – but overall is still down 60% compared to last January.
• Some of the challenges facing employers who do want to bring people back into the office, on at least a part-time basis, include setting up safety protocols, integrating remote and in office employees, scheduling different groups if a part-time model is implemented, and determining if vaccines will be required before returning to the office.
• In a survey conducted in December, half of the HR leaders questioned, predict half of their employees will want to return to the office.
• Long-term decisions about office space will likely be slow to come as companies determine if the new workforce structure needs more, or less, office space.

Source: BisNow