The Covid-19 health crisis is profoundly changing the way we work.
The massive use of telecommuting is shaking up corporate real estate practices. The development of the "home office", sometimes seen as a one-off response to the crisis, sometimes as a fundamental trend, raises a central question: could the office disappear? Nothing seems less certain...
The development of telework during the crisis
elecommuting has experienced an unprecedented boom since the beginning of the health crisis. While it previously concerned 3 to 7% of French1, employees, it involved 25% of the active population during the first containment2. In November 2020, 70% of the employees who could telework were doing so partially, including 45% full time!3!
Faced with such figures, many media are prophesying the generalization of telework. The phenomenon has many advantages. Thanks to it, companies save a lot of money on rent while reducing turnover. Employees reduce their commuting time and gain flexibility for a better balance between personal and professional life.
Telecommuting, yes, but partially!
Le télétravail est, dans les faits, loin de s’imposer comme une évidence. En janvier 2021, la part des salariés pouvant télétravailler et l’ayant fait à temps plein a chuté de 45 à 30 %4. Cette érosion rapide met en exergue toutes les limites du travail à domicile : difficultés managériales pour les entreprises, moindre sentiment d’appartenance et isolement pour les salariés…
Many business actors are advocating a hybrid solution, halfway between face-to-face work and telework. At the end of 2020, only 2% of employees and managers wanted to see telework three or more days a week after the crisis. In contrast, teleworking 2 days a week was supported by 49% of respondents.5.
Better flexibility of use
The issue of the health crisis does not seem to be the disappearance of the office, but rather the articulation between face-to-face work and telework.
With employees at home part of the week, the corporate office has to evolve. In addition to promoting the company to external stakeholders, it must preserve the feeling of belonging of the teams. This key role involves greater flexibility of use: provision of services (dry cleaning, gym, etc.), development of meeting or relaxation areas, etc.
Towards a decline in demand for office space?
In the future, the balance between telecommuting and office work is likely to result in 2 distinct scenarios. On the one hand, the company could eliminate workstations and reconfigure the space to keep employees together. On the other hand, it could encourage face-to-face work by keeping the existing square meters, provided they are made more flexible to adapt to the needs of the teams.
At a time when the virus is still raging, it is too early to analyze the effects of such a development on future office demand. The rental market is currently stagnating in a period of great uncertainty.
The office still has a long way to go
While investors' attraction for office space has not weakened to date, the market is experiencing a flight to quality. In addition to the usual selection criteria (location of the property, solvency of tenants, etc.), there are factors that have emerged or been reinforced during the crisis: mix of functions, quality of ventilation, environmental certification, etc.
The rationalization of corporate real estate appears to be inevitable, as it is during every crisis. While the relegation of the least qualitative and least central assets seems unavoidable, buildings with a strong centrality offering quality and large-scale buildings seem to be equipped to meet the expectations of companies: services at a critical size, vast spaces adapted to greater flexibility, the possibility of concentrating its workforce in a single location, etc.
Primonial REIM is fully committed to this trend. Like its SCPI Primopierre, oted best office SCPI at the 2020 Mieux Vivre Votre Argent awards, its portfolio concentrates properties offering optimal resilience. This is illustrated by Shift in Issy-les-Moulineaux, the group's most recent acquisition, which was completed in January 2021 : The building, which is certified HQE Exceptional and BREEAM Excellent, 47 000 m2 offers nearly 4 000 m2 of services.
1 Ces estimations dépendent de la définition retenue pour le télétravail. Elles sont issues de : Dares analyses n°051, « Quels sont les salariés concernés par le télétravail ? », 4 novembre 2019
2 Odoxa, "The Covid-19 will have a lasting impact on the French's relationship with work", April 9, 2020
3 Harris Interactive survey for the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Integration, "L'activité professionnelle des Français pendant la crise sanitaire", January 29, 2021
4 Ibid.
5 JLL, Reimagining tomorrow's offices. CSA survey of 88 companies and 2,033 office employees, December 2020.
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