In the wake of the coronavirus and in a post-lockdown world, co-working spaces are beginning to see a new trend: traditional law and accounting firms are starting to enquire about renting out some space.
These sorts of organisations had long been resistant to the rise of remote working practices in favor of keeping their employees in the office. However, the current economic conditions are forcing them to reconsider.
Not only are businesses looking to reduce their leasing costs, but they’ve also realized that it might not be a bad idea, after all, to let their employees simply work wherever they’re most productive.
An Australian Bureau of Statistics survey found that four in five people are comfortable going back to the office. However, other studies are showing that employees would still like to maintain some of the flexibility they had while working from home.
Many people are saying this as they were able to find extra productivity in their days while working from home due to the avoided hours of commuting.
What companies are therefore considering, is swapping CBD office towers for suburban hubs. These would not only be cheaper but also closer to where their workers live.
Other options that are actively being thrown around in the corporate world are swapping open-plan spaces for individual offices, reducing expensive city head office spaces and instead simply having a slick front desk, client meeting rooms and other collaboration spaces.
In Conclusion
While these are all discussions that are actively taking place, there are still too many uncertainties in the market, and few organisations have yet to make a concrete decision.
Come November we will probably see what the future of city offices and remote work truly looks like as financial performance and working conditions become more clear.