Office Market Discussion

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by libtard

I guess my anecdotal evidence cancels yours out? My office opened up 30 spots for people to come back to work if they chose. 1 person showed up. The other 29 prefer working from home. I guess we’ll just have to go by facts and actual trends pointing to an increase in telecommuting and a decrease in office space demand

Long term isn't what's happening in the first week of June 2020. I mean I doubt anyone feels comfortable still going into an office (ignoring the people that need to go eat brunch at Earls).

[csbvan]

Originally Posted by Klazu

I heard from a friend that Shopify may not be building as big of an office presence as quickly as they were thinking earlier due to the COVID situation and working from home boom. Interesting if true.

Yes, it sounds like they will open a recruitment centre as opposed to a full office.

[s211]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

I doubt anyone feels comfortable still going into an office

If I were you, I'd give up on your job aspirations as a professional doubter, because your doubts are unfounded.

[s211]

https://www.marcusmillichap.com/abou.../2020/06/yahoo

Includes a brief discussion on structural vs. temporary changes to office/work models.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by s211

https://www.marcusmillichap.com/abou.../2020/06/yahoo

Includes a brief discussion on structural vs. temporary changes to office/work models.

Yeah he said the worldwide office market recovered after 9/11 so that will play again. That makes common sense.

[s211]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Yeah he said the worldwide office market recovered after 9/11 so that will play again. That makes common sense.

Do you have any lateral association with commercial real estate markets? Or comprehension of real estate economics and market dynamics? Of human psychology? It's tiring having this discussion-ish.

[Sheba]

Feds looking at permanent remote work, office needs after COVID-19

The federal government is taking a close look at the amount of office space it will need in the coming years as it considers how some of Canada's hundreds of thousands of federal public servants could end up working from home permanently.

The review was revealed Monday by Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos, who oversees the bureaucracy as a workforce, as the government released a guide for the eventual return of public servants to their normal workplaces.

The vast majority of federal public servants have been working from home since mid-March as COVID-19 saw offices and other workspaces across the country shuttered to slow transmission of the illness.

While there have been some hiccups and criticisms, Duclos said significant lessons have been learned -- and efficiencies realized -- over the past three months even as the government dramatically ramped up the ability for bureaucrats to work remotely.

That included doubling the number of secure internet connections available to public servants and tripling the number of minutes available for teleconferences so workers and supervisors can stay in touch and co-ordinate their activities.

As a result, "we've started really reflecting on the number of offices and the number of office spaces we want over the next few years," Duclos said during the daily COVID-19 ministerial news conference in Ottawa.

...

Slightly more than anecdotal... Even our various govs are looking at versions of permanent work from home.

[scryer]

Originally Posted by Sheba

Feds looking at permanent remote work, office needs after COVID-19

Slightly more than anecdotal... Even our various govs are looking at versions of permanent work from home.

Question to those that still think that work from home models are distant fantasies: so if our governments are looking at the work at home model, what would stop private companies from doing the same?

Let's have a discussion .

[rofina]

Originally Posted by scryer

Question to those that still think that work from home models are distant fantasies: so if our governments are looking at the work at home model, what would stop private companies from doing the same?

Let's have a discussion .

I really only see 2 factors;

- Some people enjoy office life. They enjoy leaving the kids behind, the dog, the wife. The office is their escape from that for 9 hours, and working from home would only force them more into it.

- Many business owners still see this as risky. They prefer to see people behind a desk for their 8 hours, 5 days a week.

I think too much thought is given to tech and how adaptable it is, progressive, etc.

But for every progressive tech company, you have 2 dozen old school business that still heavily rely on paper and cannot simply pack up and work from home to any large degree.

These business would not only have to find a way to automate their process and go paperless but also to believe the cause enough to invest in that direction.

I think Covid proved its possible without disaster in many instances, but I'm still seeing more return to the office plans than not.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by scryer

Question to those that still think that work from home models are distant fantasies: so if our governments are looking at the work at home model, what would stop private companies from doing the same?

Let's have a discussion .

What more is there to discuss? Everyone has said their POVs from both sides of the table.

[officedweller]

Here's a summary of benefits and downsides from both the employee perspective and the employer perspective.

https://builtin.com/remote-work/bene...king-from-home

[s211]

Originally Posted by scryer

if our governments are looking at the work at home model, what would stop private companies from doing the same?

The last thing the private sector does is look to how the government does things as a gold standard. The government's office use practices are nothing short of depressing and appalling, regarding of which branch of government one is looking at.

[WarrenC12]

Nothing was stopping this work from home revolution in 2019. There have been zero legislative changes since then.

[SpongeG]

I wonder how long the working at home thing will last if wages get affected.

I saw something about how some companies are ok with working from home for their employees but were thinking of cutting wages for those who work from home. Would people still want to stay at home and get paid less?

one article on the idea

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

I wonder how long the working at home thing will last if wages get affected.

I saw something about how some companies are ok with working from home for their employees but were thinking of cutting wages for those who work from home. Would people still want to stay at home and get paid less?

one article on the idea

Not surprisingly Facebook floated that. Could they get any slimier?

Interesting article on how few are returning to Manhattan offices, even as they reopen:

...Since the lockdown began in March, financial firms have eschewed their option as essential businesses to bring more staff into their offices. Hopes that the city’s phased reopening would inspire a quick rebound of the bustling economy are running into the realities that big companies are going to be cautious. In a recent workplace survey of 60 companies conducted by the Partnership for New York City, employers said they only anticipate having 10% of employees back by Aug. 15. By year-end, they expect just 30%.

Many firms have been pleasantly surprised at employees’ ability to work remotely and some want to avoid putting a strain on public transit with workers who don’t have to be in the office. Companies are also taking time to retrofit spaces for social distancing, or upgrade air-conditioning systems and bathroom hand dryers. Employers including BlackRock Inc. plan to require mandatory training for staff returning to offices...

...The delay in returning workers to offices may augur a more permanent reckoning for New York office space. In a survey, the Partnership for New York City and Newmark Knight Frank found that roughly 37% of finance companies said they plan to decrease the space they occupy in the city by 20% or more. About one-fifth of professional services firms said the same. And more than a quarter of financial services companies plan to relocate jobs to the suburbs or other locations, the highest share of any industry...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...&sref=x4rjnz06

[chowhou]

As someone who works in tech, every few months there's always an article talking about how the era of the "WFH" or "remote" worker is coming soon. It never pans out. The big tech firms are always looking for policies which will foster growth and profitability; If working from home was the panacea that everyone is making it out to be, we would have been working from home years ago.

[rofina]

Originally Posted by chowhou

As someone who works in tech, every few months there's always an article talking about how the era of the "WFH" or "remote" worker is coming soon. It never pans out. The big tech firms are always looking for policies which will foster growth and profitability; If working from home was the panacea that everyone is making it out to be, we would have been working from home years ago.

This is how I tend to view this too - leasing office space in Downtown cores of tech hub cities is not cheap.

If these companies thought they could do away with millions in leases, I'm sure it would have been a more serious consideration already.

We didn't invent the technology require to make it workable during Covid, the transition could have been made over the past decade.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by chowhou

As someone who works in tech, every few months there's always an article talking about how the era of the "WFH" or "remote" worker is coming soon. It never pans out. The big tech firms are always looking for policies which will foster growth and profitability; If working from home was the panacea that everyone is making it out to be, we would have been working from home years ago.

It doesn't look like our newest expanding tech tenant is rethinking their future here (yet). The furniture was being delivered to Amazon's new Dunsmuir office today. There was no sign of an Amazon logo on the dozens of brown cardboard boxes going into the building - so apparently they didn't buy their furniture on Prime.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by rofina

This is how I tend to view this too - leasing office space in Downtown cores of tech hub cities is not cheap.

If these companies thought they could do away with millions in leases, I'm sure it would have been a more serious consideration already.

We didn't invent the technology require to make it workable during Covid, the transition could have been made over the past decade.

It's also interesting that they are spending huge money to consolidate into brand new space downtown. Obviously they see a big benefit to having everybody in the same building.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

It's also interesting that they are spending huge money to consolidate into brand new space downtown. Obviously they see a big benefit to having everybody in the same building.

A friend of mine works for a company based out of silicon valley that has a dedicated office space for him and his fellow Vancouver-based employees to work remotely. They all gather in one spot just to organize together while they work remotely on servers in California.