McKinsey said cities could adapt to the declining demand for office space by “taking a hybrid approach themselves,” developing multi-use office and retail space and constructing buildings that can be easily adapted to serve different purposes.
McKinsey said cities could adapt to the declining demand for office space by “taking a hybrid approach themselves,” developing multi-use office and retail space and constructing buildings that can be easily adapted to serve different purposes.
This. I was part of two mass walkouts from two different companies, both of which were over-invested in office space and decided to try to force employees back to the office despite productivity gains from WFH. One had signed a 10 year lease on an office space in Jan 2020 and had been paying rent for two years for an empty building, the other owned the parking garage next to their office and was trying to bilk employees for $12/person/day to park.
Now I work for a company that doesn’t have an office. I’m told some employees live close to one another and occasionally meet up at their apartments, but I’ve also been promised that I’ll never have to do that. If they reneg, I’ll walk again. It’s as simple as me never setting foot in an office again under any circumstances.
What gets me is that there is every likelihood that the productivity increases cause a larger increase in profits than the losses they are taking from the bad real estate deal they made. Financially, they could probably eat the 10 years of rent or sublet it and reap further productivity gains as the organization continues to adapt and come out so far ahead. Fucking management myopia.
in the short term, increased productivity will offset the rent. hell, baseline productivity was supposed to be enough to offset the rent or they would have never signed the lease in the first place. in the long term, the lease expires, they don’t renew it, they get increased productivity and decreased costs, along with their pick of the best and brightest employees worldwide rather than just those within commuting distance who couldn’t get remote work.
Thing is, while we’re waiting for all of these smart plays to pay off the stock price has gone up, but by 10% less than projected so c suite has fired all the mid and upper level managers.