Quarantine forced many companies to transfer their employees to remote work. And the longer the quarantine lasts, the greater the likelihood that white-collar workers will not want to return to the office – especially representatives of creative and creative professions.
“Most likely, up to 30% of employees will remain working remotely. They felt how convenient and profitable it was – there was no need to spend money on trips to the office, countless coffee in glasses and food from the cafe, and most importantly, time was released that used to go on the road, and now can be used for more useful activities,” notes Volodymyr Gelyuta, Managing Partner of UTG Offices.
This is convenient not only for employees, but for companies, since they spend a lot of money on maintaining their office, employees, and utilities. “What will management do in the future in such a situation?” He will reduce his area, leaving only certain services that cannot but be in the office. Of course, not every employee wants and knows how to work effectively remotely: we all love to procrastinate and do it especially well at home, where there is no supervision and it is easy to find excuses for our conscience. And here flexible offices, which often offer coworking spaces, will become relevant,” adds Andriy Ryzhykov, CEO and managing partner of the development company DC Evolution.
Obviously, the office market is waiting for reformatting. “I think new formats will appear, because I don’t really want to sit in open space – this is a serious psychological moment. Therefore, for sure open space will be remade into spaces with a large number of separate zones and separate cabinets. Flexible jobs will also appear when three people sit in one place – only at different times and for different projects,” says Volodymyr Gelyuta.
COVID-19 exposed the weak points of large offices with a single ventilation system. A person with any respiratory illness, regardless of whether he sits in a huge open space or personal account, can transmit the virus to others. “It’s already clear that the story with the virus will not end in May, and for the future it is necessary to protect our employees: put bactericidal lamps, special filters, re-distribute the offices in such a way that air is mixed,” emphasizes Andriy Ryzhykov. Volodymyr Gelyuta agrees with him: “Absolutely, offices without ventilation and filtration systems will be in less demand.” In the meantime, in the midst of quarantine, business centers are limited to wiping the handles and buttons of elevators with antiseptics.