Corporate Real Estate Professionals: No More Than 50 Percent of Workforce to Be Back on Site Until At Least June 2021

2 OCTOBER 2020 – ATLANTA, GA – In a CoreNet Global tracking survey of corporate real estate professionals on the effects of the pandemic, 50 percent of the respondents say that it will be at least until June 2021 when more than 50 percent of workers return onsite. Seventeen percent say that it will be later than June 2021.

And when workers do return, the office is likely to be a place for collaboration and teamwork, rather than individual work, say 86 percent of the respondents.

When asked “Is the 9-5, Monday-Friday work pattern with a commute a thing of the past?” some 64 percent of respondents answered “Yes,” up from 58 percent in the previous survey. Thirty-six percent of respondents answered “No,” down from 42 percent in the previous survey.

Survey respondents reported that, moving forward, their company’s employees will spend about 50 percent of their time in a traditional office, 42 percent of their time in a home-based office or other remote location, and seven percent of their time in a co-working space.

Forty-six percent of survey respondents report that their company’s use of co-working spaces will remain the same following the COVID-19 crisis, while 28 percent anticipate a decrease and 26 percent anticipate an increase.

Over Time, The Average Corporate Real Estate Footprint Will Decrease, But Slightly

Seventy percent of survey respondents think their corporate real estate footprint will shrink over the next two years. Sixteen percent expect no change in the footprint during the next two years, while 14 percent forecast an increase.

However, of those, 23 percent say that it will be a decrease of 10 percent or less, 27 percent say that it will be a decrease of 10 to 30 percent, and 20 percent say that it will be a decrease of greater than 30 percent.

In other findings:

• More than a third (34 percent) of survey respondents are not providing a per-employee financial allowance for home office setup (e.g., technology, furniture). Seventeen percent of respondents are providing between $100 and $250, while seventeen percent are providing between $250 and $500. Seven percent of respondents’ per-employee allocation is less than $100, and five percent are providing more than $500. Almost one-fifth (19 percent) are providing assistance on an as-needed basis.

• Sixty-two percent of survey respondents report that they would now consider hiring full-time employees without consideration of location (e.g., under the assumption that they would be able to work remotely 100 percent of the time), down from 69 percent in the previous survey. Thirty-eight percent indicated that they would not consider hiring full-time employees on that basis, up from 31 percent in the previous survey.
  
• Seventy-one percent of survey respondents reported that their company will not shy away from city-center locations in densely packed urban areas that require the use of public transport (unchanged from the previous survey). Twenty-nine percent of respondents indicated that their company would shy away from such locations in the future (unchanged from the previous survey).
  
• When asked “Will pandemic readiness on the part of cities and localities become more of a factor in your company’s site-selection plans?” 66 percent of respondents said “Yes,” up from 50 percent in the previous survey. Thirty-four percent said “No,” down from 50 percent in the previous survey.
  
• Sixty-seven percent of respondents think the COVID-19 crisis will lead to more on-shoring or re-shoring of manufacturing, up from 44 percent in the previous survey.

From 9 to 29 September, CoreNet Global conducted a survey of its worldwide membership to gain insight on how the ongoing COVID-19 crisis is impacting corporate real estate management. One hundred two members responded to the survey, which was an update to the previous survey conducted between 27 May and 16 June.

About CoreNet Global

CoreNet Global is a non-profit association, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (US), representing more than 11,000 executives in 50 countries with strategic responsibility for the real estate assets of large corporations. The organization’s mission is to advance the practice of corporate real estate through professional development opportunities, publications, research, conferences, designations and networking in 45 local chapters and networking groups globally. For more information, please visit www.corenetglobal.org or follow @CoreNetGlobal on Twitter.