Density reposted this
I say what needs saying about the Future of Work/Living. I also help teams coordinate remote & in-office Kadences (pun intended, it’s where I work and what we do!).
If the office was a business, it would be out of business: - In 2023, 50% of offices sat empty 7+ hours a day! (Source: Density) - Since March 2020, approx. 200 million square feet of vacancy has hit the market (Source: CoStar Group) - Office REIT stock performance is in the crapper Companies needed way less space pre-covid, but it was impossible to predict how much faster covid would correct the market. North America’s hottest pre-covid submarket (Toronto’s Entertainment District) tells the story for us: - Vacancy Rate in March 2020: 3.4% - Vacancy Rate in April 2024: 28.4% (Source: CBRE Canada) Blaming this spike in vacancy on the economy is asinine—it’s because of a revolution surrounding workplace flexibility. Big companies are more awake but still less awake than young companies because: - Many big brands are talent magnets regardless of poorly executed approaches to hybrid work - Entrenched cognitive biases and sunk costs are at play - Real estate costs don’t matter as much Most are operating their offices in a binary way (ppl come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays…otherwise, they sit vacant). So yeah, if the office was a business, it would be busto… If going to the office had to be profitable…it would require better coordination...not mandates. The size of plane an airline flies is based on assessing the number of ppl who have proven they want to fly CONSISTENTLY to that place. What is the consistent demand for an office? And how do we better coordinate teams so the office is always getting used? It’s time for the office to shift from a hobby to an actual business… Agree?
Matt Bowles
1mo
Work changes, and the use of land changes. That’s history.
Excellent points, as always, Dave. I traveled from N. TX to OKC, OK this week and passed by what used to be a really popular outlet mall. It stood empty and appeared abandoned and reminded me of other malls I’ve seen shut down over the past 20 years. When early stats showed the retail industry and people’s’ shopping preferences shifting to online, a lot of folks were slow to accept or understand how most of what you see in stores could be purchased digitally. Look at things now. I rarely go to a department store or even the grocery store, for that matter. I think there’s a lesson here. Now - are there things you wouldn’t buy over the Internet? Sure. Similarly, not every job can or should be done remotely, but I think a large number can. Change is inevitable. Societies grow and advance. I believe our lives have been better for it.
Chris Early
4w
No other business insults and threatens its customers/consumers in the same way, if they don’t buy its product
Employee Experience, Future of Work, Organizational Health, and Workplace Strategy Leader at McKinsey || ex. WeWork, JLL, Credit Suisse) || LinkedIn Top Voice || Top 50 Remote Accelerator
1moThis makes me think back to an exercise in Dror and Antony’s rethinking the office course a few years back. “What are the jobs to be done in the office / what would you ‘hire’ the office to do?” So in that case, maybe it’s not really a business, but rather an employer, who can’t get anyone to work for them. Same same. 😁