Some corporations are offering monetary incentives, others food, to encourage employees back to the office. Remote working for key people such as nurses, doctors, lorry drivers, teachers, factory workers – to name a few – is impossible. And many working parents with young children will tell you that making sure your Zoom call is not interrupted by a crying toddler is challenge enough. “I’m anticipating at least a 20-30% fall in rent for offices…I think the notion of putting 7,000 people in a building may be a thing of the past,” Barclays Boss Jess Staley told the BBC as early as April 2020. With work shifting remotely, technology has accelerated dramatically and experts stress that cities will never be the same again. “What was initially expected to be a short-term response could be the new reality with implications for consumer spending, human capital and real estate, among other areas of the economy,” notes Morgan Stanley US equities strategist Adam Virgadamo. Many businesses and services, from transport to dry cleaners and sandwich makers are riding on it – not least the USD$30 trillion global commercial property market. The lifeblood of our global cities depends on it. “Around 62% of employees aged 22 to 65 say they work remotely at least occasionally,” notes Jack Steward from Findstack. You might also be surprised to learn, notes Steward, that a staggering 16% of companies in the world are 100% remote.Īnd while a better work-life balance is the main reason people chose to work remotely, bosses, landlords and governments are nudging professionals to get back to their offices. Some 40% and 50% of the workforce in the Europe and the US, respectively, were clocking on remotely – and many are unlikely to return to their offices anytime soon. In Europe, the US, and around the globe working from home was mandated to those who could. Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose! The term ‘slacker’ became fashionable, especially in hard-hit San Francisco, to refer to those who eschewed mask wearing as an affront to their civil liberties. Slackers, were also common during the deadly influenza pandemic of 1918 when some 50 million died. The rest are probably slackers ,” says the MD of a British manufacturing firm. “I would suggest that one in thirty people are disciplined enough to work from home productively, and efficiently. The issue is as divisive as mask-wearing and vaccination. But while near 80% of employees feel more productive working remotely, bosses do not always agree. Whichever side of the debate you are on – know this, agile working is here to stay and cities will evolve in ways we cannot yet anticipate.Ĭoronavirus, with a global death toll of 4.34 million, has evidently accelerated the trend to work from sofas, kitchens, beds, parks and summer homes. Are you happy and able to work from home until you retire, or do you feel more productive and efficient working from your office desk?
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