Is the office back to stay?
We're all fairly entrenched in the work from home or remote working lifestyle now, but as we slowly
revert back to pre-pandemic life, are we seeing the office coming back? According to the Office sentiment survey conducted by property and
investment services company Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) in December last year, it seems that the office is still very much alive, and Kiwis
still love their second home!
In the 21 months that have passed since our first lockdown, the pandemic has created a rapid shift in working and living patterns. Employees
have adapted to working from home in compliance with health and safety guidelines and revealed an appetite for greater flexibility and
hybrid ways of working.
The objective of JLL’s survey was to understand New Zealand’s sentiment towards the office from the perspectives of employees,
occupiers, and landlords. 218 responses split between employees, occupiers (employers) and property owners reveals the office will be more
important now than ever before as the centre of the work ecosystem, and that outstanding office environments will remain a critical way to
engage employees.
As we all return to a sense of normality, we’ll see more people return to their old ways of working within an office space, but with a
few permanent changes to provide more flexibility and nimbleness.
The key insights from the survey show:
• The office remains integral to corporate strategy. ‘Office nostalgia’ is prominent and most pronounced in outstanding
offices, meaning the office has a major role to play in navigating periods of uncertainty.
• 85%of employees now want to be in the office full time or at least 2-4 days a week, and only 2% want to work at home permanently -
indicating how important an office environment is for social interaction and connection.
• Within the context of an office space, sustainability is of most importance for owners. Despite a greater focus on environmental
conditions, owners placed much more emphasis on its importance than occupiers or employees.
• 13% of owners are considering improving sustainability, while only 5% of employees consider this as their first-choice for workplace
considerations. Irrespective of age, this theme was consistent across the various age categories. We have seen environmental considerations
for employees more prominent in offshore surveys, possibly indicating that New Zealand employees are just starting to understand how their
decisions have a place to help support the changes the property sector can make to positively influence the environment.
So what changes will we see in the future and post-pandemic office? The office market is now defined by strong collaboration. Throughout
the pandemic, owners and occupiers have worked together to maintain tenancies with initiatives like rent relief and fit-out incentives.
92% of owners have provided assistance to their occupiers during COVID-19 while 39% stated their number one priority was to meet occupier
needs, fully supporting our views that strong collaboration provides the best outcomes.
Flight to quality is an ongoing trend. An increasingly competitive labour market has seen the office become a means of attracting and
retaining talent with occupiers offering premium fit-outs in premium locations.
Increasingly, employees are becoming more vocal on their workplace expectations. This creates an opportunity for employers to gather this
information and create an environment to assist their attraction and retention strategies. The majority of employees (85%) believe that the
quality of office space and the location for ease of travel are now the two most important workplace environment factors.
While factors such as amenity, building considerations and end of journey facilities are important, if the location of the workplace and
quality of space are inferior, this will have a detrimental impact on employees and potentially lead to higher attrition rates. Workplace
trends are showing us that collaboration spaces and ergonomic
furniture
options are becoming an expectation in today’s workspace.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 66% of employees said they had some form of flexible work options. Flexibility has become more widespread
across the workforce with 87% now having the opportunity to work in a more flexible manner and the expectation is for this to continue.
The pandemic has only accelerated the change of the flexible working model, as many employees were already offered similar working
environments. When looking at what type of flexibility was being offered, the hybrid working from home model is the most common with 55%
employees saying this is currently offered, with the use of collaborative space being the next most common offering.
For a large part of the workforce, working from home presents challenges – lack of a dedicated workspace, interruptions, and social
isolation. As a result, 49% of respondents do not want to work from home on a more frequent basis, implying that the office continues to be
an important location for these employees and productivity being equal in both locations. Approximately 30% have not changed their views
about working from home versus working from the office, with the remaining 21% wanting to work more from the office. The low proportion of
people seeking to work from home on a full-time basis (2%) illustrates the importance employees place on face-to-face collaboration, social
interaction with colleagues and learning through osmosis.
When employees were asked to rank what would be the most important option to them when they return to the office after lockdown
restrictions, the top option is consistent with the ideal working week for a hybrid work model including remote working options, and then
increased levels of cleaning and the third priority being less dense workspaces. These employee preferences are useful intelligence for
occupiers (employers) in conjunction with property owners to consider offering the optimal flexible workplace environments for the
employees.
As part of the survey, occupiers were asked, if you could make one change to your workspace then what would that be? The top two categories,
both at 31%, were to re-configure for more collaborative areas and modernise the workplace covering better lighting and air-conditioning
which will assist a more efficient office for a positive impact to the environment, which supports the third option of environmental
changes.
At Modern Office, we specialise in commercial furniture and giving office spaces a new lease on life. Our team can take care of all aspects
of a project, delivering the client the finished result with less hassle. Whether you need a full office fitout along with floor planning
and design advice - or whether you just need to upgrade a few desks and chairs, we’re here to help.
Modern Office is proud of this full service which they’ve perfected over the last 15 years and our team, with a
number of successful projects
under our belt. So if you need to get your organisation workplace ready again, get in touch to discuss
your next project today.