Early on in the pandemic, reports of the death of the office appeared greatly exaggerated. But as COVID-19 lingers, and second infection spikes dot the global map, something is changing in how employees and employers view the workplace: It’s being seen as an option rather than a necessity for many white-collar workers.
Once we get the pandemic under control, this shift will be welcomed by cost-cutting companies and staff who dread the daily commute. But for the owners of commercial property — already reeling from the move away from brick-and-mortar retail — the consequences may be severe. The market values of commercial real-estate companies, such as Land Securities Group Plc and British Land Co. Plc, have plummeted.
This isn’t just a question of tech workers at Alphabet Inc., Twitter Inc. or Facebook Inc. taking the relatively straightforward step of doing their stuff from home. All kinds of companies are making the same calculation. Alan Jope, boss of consumer goods giant Unilever, doesn’t see workers ever returning to offices 100 percent. Swiss bank UBS Group AG says a third of its employees could keep operating from home.