Covid-19 has changed office trends drastically. Every business is looking to cut the operational cost yet eager to grow their business once the markets start to return. Entrepreneurs are looking at how to choose and run an office space in this new landscape.
To run an office, companies need more cash to run current infrastructure as well as to focus on re-establishing supply chains and re-hiring employees rather than large capital expenditure and signing leases on buildings for the long-term with no flexibility.
Because of this COVID-19, many offices are closed temporarily or permanently, many have made a move to remote working and linked members to community platforms to keep in touch and share information. Few offices have started to provide additional services to earn more surplus and save their members from navigating uncertain times through financial guidance, HR assistance, and private office space.
Below are the latest key trends right now include:
1 – Virtual office tours: Virtual office space tours have widely been adopted due to COVID-19. The main reason is to restrict people from traveling and visiting physically. There are so many applications available in the market which facilitates 360 view or tour that enables prospective tenants to have a fully immersive experience. As per the researchers, virtual tour usage has increased by 75% in the COVID-19 situation.
2 – Rent-free offices: Due to this hard time, every business is facing a downfall. Some vendors are offering to pay rent for 2 months instead of paying every month or some vendors are offering discounts so that businesses will not move permanently or temporarily.
3 – Working from remote locations: As office operational cost is bothering the businesses, most of the offices are allowed to work from home. Though this leads to a communication gap and a lack of professional environment.
4 – Coworking office spaces: Though working remotely is an option adopted by most of the offices, but the businesses are benefiting from the services provided by coworking offices to help with day to day operations. This scenario offers mailbox and mail management, wi-fi facility, conference & meeting rooms, mentorship and operation support, canteen, and much more. Due to the flexibility and budget-friendliness, several businesses are opting for coworking office spaces to efficiently run their businesses.
Most of the businesses returning to work and seeking office spaces that can support the latest video-conferencing tech and provide support to teams using virtual meeting rooms.
Office spaces are taking safety precautions like cleaning services every few hours, hospital-grade disinfectant across all surfaces, and social distancing office setups which provide adequate spacing between workstations.
Shared office spaces are gaining popularity as closer to home could be part of the solution. In the long-term, businesses looking for backup office space or satellite offices to use in case of an emergency will turn to flexible workspaces.
