If Companies Are Seeing No Loss In Productivity Due to Employees Working From Home, Why Bring Them Back?

As time goes on and the Pandemic light at the end of the tunnel continues to be most distant, companies may be more open to embracing hybrid and even total remote working and not expecting a return to the office. “Digital.com’s survey found the increasing embrace of remote work is one of the top factors leading companies to consider downsizing their spaces. ‘People want to spend more time with their families and less time commuting. They want to spend less money on commuting and child care. Additionally, our survey data shows that, after over a year of lockdown, companies have had no loss in productivity due to people working from home,” said Dennis Consorte, small business consultant at Ditigal.com. “This is a tremendous win for companies, and saving on the cost of office space is a huge bonus for their bottom line.” San Francisco Business Times Spt. 15, 2021

Airbnb has announced that its employees are not expected to return to the office until September, 2022, Will more companies extend their return-to-work target dates? And if many employees are willing to work for less if they have a flexible hybrid work schedule, and others who are allowed to relocate to significantly lower cost regions are willing to take a big pay cut, what will this mean for the future of traditional office space? On the other hand, there have been recent announcements of major office developments planned around the U.S., and with construction and material costs skyrocketing these new office locations will not be cheap. With 200 million square feet of office space on the sublease market, an overall average of 17% vacancy for office space across the United States, and yet tens of millions of feet of new office projects being planned, all while corporate America is not sure they even need office space…the next few years will indeed be interesting! #returntowork #officemarket #hybridoffice #officespace