Lesson7 The Office of the Future (5)
Some employers will downsize their lease or look for flexible office space, rather than take on long-term leases. And reducing rent payments by letting workers work from home is less painful than layoffs. So companies may be willing to help employees pay for home-office renovations.
After the Great Recession, companies tired to do more with less space. The meant packing more and more people into open office spaces in what’s known as “densification.”
When you come to think of it, density is what makes a city special. When you get lots of people living in close proximity to each other, the result is a healthy, invigorating cultural mix. But in a pandemic, density is the last thing you want. That’s why many people have moved to out of the urban core, and office buildings sit empty.
Working from home all the time isn’t for everybody, you know. Many people are looking forward to returning to the office. Being able to work remotely won’t drive most people away from cities and offices. But it will enable many to live and work in new ways and places. Nevertheless, cities will still be the center of business activity.
All these changes are an acknowledgment that even after safety measures are removed, the pandemic is likely to spur a broader restricting of offices and how people do their jobs. It’s a brave new world.
As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information.