Fewer tenants planning to reduce office space
More than half (54 per cent) of Canadian employers expect almost all (90 to 100 per cent) of their employees to be back to the office once a vaccine is available to the public.
However, the desire to have employees back in the office differ for businesses of different sizes, according to an October survey by Colliers International.
More than six in 10 (62 per cent) of small businesses and 58 per cent of regional businesses indicate that all their employees will return to the office after a vaccine. The same is true for 29 per cent of international/national businesses.
Based on the median data, small businesses indicate 100 per cent of their employees will go back to the office. This number falls to 93 per cent for regional businesses and 63 per cent for international businesses, finds the survey of 391 employers, 184 of which are office tenants, 122 retail tenants, and 85 industrial tenants.
“When the pandemic first forced employees to work from home, there were suggestions that remote work would replace the physical office forever. However, the data suggests that while remote work could influence the market, in no way does it suggest the ‘death’ of the office,” says the report Office Recovery: Space Needs and Productivity.
Real estate considerations
As further evidence of a return to the office, 37 per cent of respondents expressed a desire to reduce their office space, down from 46 per cent in the November survey, finds Colliers.
Forty-one per cent of office tenants indicate that after the pandemic, they would need about the same amount of space, up from 32 per cent in June. More than a third (37 per cent) says they would need less space in comparison to 46 per cent in June.
The biggest reason? They have the same number of employees but some will be working remotely (51 per cent). Twenty-seven per cent say it’s because they have fewer employees while 22 per cent have reduced their growth expectations.
Real estate professionals continue to see a key role for physical office space in creating a corporate culture and recruiting and retaining employees, according to a recent report.
Productivity concerns
While there’s been some debate as to how work from home impacts productivity levels, the Colliers survey finds businesses believe that working from home has caused productivity to drop by 23.4 per cent, compared to 22.6 per cent in June.
“As the pandemic continues with no clear end in sight, the novelty of working from home is wearing off for some COVID-weary employees who miss the structure and connectedness of the office,” says the authors.
In October, a survey found that many workers were having trouble staying motivated or concentrating on work.
And in July, a separate survey found that many Americans were open to their employer having visibility into their daily productivity.
