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As Labor Day approaches, bringing with it the third round of expectations that the return to the office will begin in earnest after the holiday, a vast majority of executives say they will continue offering remote work, according to a new survey.
CRE professionals and executives alike have spent years wondering how and whether to get employees back to the office, but in JLL's new Future of Work Survey, the brokerage found that 77% of decision-makers concede that offering remote or hybrid work options will continue to be an essential recruiting tool to attract and retain talent for the foreseeable future.
Of the decision-makers polled, 72% said that the office is an essential component of doing business, but the majority agreed that work-from-home is here to stay.
The survey suggests that both employers and the CRE industry have to be nimble over the next three years to adapt to continued changes as real estate evolves.
Fifty-three percent of organizations polled said they plan to make remote work a permanent option for all employees by 2025.
Conversely, the report also highlights the need for CRE to double down on intelligent technology investments — 69% of the organizations surveyed plan to or already have introduced more technology to help improve in-office collaboration. Forty-three percent plan to accelerate investment in health and well-being amenities for employees.
Meanwhile, companies like Apple and Peloton are taking a hard-line approach to get employees back to the office. Both companies told employees that they are expected to return to the office after Labor Day, citing the importance of in-office collaboration.
Kastle Systems' Back to Work Barometer found that office occupancy continues to vary wildly from city to city. In Austin, Texas, for example, average office occupancy clocked in at 58.2% of pre-pandemic levels for the week of Aug. 10, while occupancy in San Jose, California, sat at 34%.
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