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Old Posted May 13, 2020, 9:12 PM
Milksteak Milksteak is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UrbanRevival View Post
It's true that there's likely to be a notable changes in what's proposed and what's built at this point, but it's far to early to determine how those changes will manifest themselves. There's obviously a much bigger push for telework now, and much of that will likely end up being permanent, but there will never be a real substitute for in-person collaboration as long as there are human beings--that's just basic fact. In recognition of this, companies will always want to have some type of physical presence; it's just how that must be configured with a mind towards public health in a new post-pandemic age.

In less philosophical terms, less demand for workspace among individual companies is also likely to be offset by the need for more physical distancing space and individualized offices over "hoteling" or "co-working" spaces. That trend will only serve to push overall spaces to the larger side, rather than a trend of overall reduction.

Who knows, it might end up being a "wash" in the long term.
I work for a company where I'd say 80% of us are remote, in an industry that is trending towards remote work as well. Even still, we have a large HQ on the west coast with numerous offices across the US - 3 in the Philly area alone. They are small, but in person office space is still important - we actually recently opened a center city office for client meetings and center city workers. I like working from home just because time is rare for me these days and not commuting really helps out, but there is something to be said about working in an office with people that you work with directly on a day to day basis. I would have found it very difficult starting my career as a remote worker. I think companies may downsize their space, but highly doubt they are going to nix their offices altogether. Remote working isn't a new concept, it's been gaining traction for a good decade, this just forced some old school companies to try it out without giving them any other choice.