One thing Is For Sure, No One Knows Where Office Work Is Headed!

It was great for almost all corporations for the announcement that companies employing 100 or more must either have their employees fully vaccinated or take weekly tests. This may accelerate the return to the office, which most companies who had hoped to have most employees back by September 2021 have pushed reentry back to early 2022. However, there are still major announcements of companies either going virtual or making major space reductions. As one case among many, DropBox just placed 660,000 square feet of San Francisco long-term office space on the sublease market. On the other hand, Twitter just announced a new 66,000 sf office lease at 1330 Broadway in Oakland. Most employees do not want to go back to the office five days a week, but many do want to come in part of the week. My discussions with office brokers around the country has been interesting. Landlord brokers seem to believe that companies need their employees in the office for collaboration, mentoring, company culture, etc., and that when the Covid crisis becomes less dangerous they will start returning in droves. My tenant-rep counter parts think that there may be a permanent and major office downsizing, long-erm and sustained, leading to an excess of hundreds of millions of square feet of office space across the board. “As of May 20, 2021, the percentage of paid remote job postings on LinkedIn grew 457% from the year earlier share. Overall, 9.7% of listings across all industries now involve remote work, up from barely 2% a year earlier.”  George Anders, Senior Editor at Large, LinkedIn. 

“For Prudential, working nine-to-five, five days a week in the office will be a relic of the past,” said Falzon, Prudential Vice Chair. . “A hybrid workplace is better for our business and our employees.” What do you think?