The pandemic has drastically disrupted our lives in multiple ways affecting communities and businesses globally. Apart from its life taking activities, the heinous virus took its toll particularly on the economy and the workforce linked with various multinational cooperations, affecting the way organizations were performing and the essence of a coworking environment. However, there is one niche that boomed during the sudden COVID-19 outbreak and that is serviced office market.
The serviced office market has remained one of the most unshakeable businesses in uncertain times. Following an upward trajectory, the sector always managed to preserve its longevity for the past four decades. The sector continues to grow due to the increasing demand for business flexibility.
What’s Trending in the Serviced Office Arena?
A serviced office offers a fully furnished and ready-to-use equipment set up for businesses. They are known for their expert and businesses friendly design that can help get business underway faster and easier. They are available in multiple sizes, depending upon the occupier’s preferences.
Even after a positive growth rate in vaccination, many companies still hesitate to return to pre-COVID office schedules, leading to a definite shift towards services offices and it has started to develop some peculiar trends. Here are some of them:
1. The Demand for Remote Positions
A few years ago, before the pandemic hit our society, humans were unable to imagine doing their regular 9 to 5 jobs without even attending workplaces. Tech giants like Apple continued to build and modify their futuristic headquarters to attract more and more employees. However, the booming corporate campuses are no longer lively like they were at a certain time. This is because the post-COVID now demands more remote positions than ever.
The workforce has tasted the forbidden work from home fruit and now it’s quite common that employees, as well as companies, are willing to work remotely. This makes it easy for companies to rely on serviced office concepts, overall boosting its demand.
2. Moving Toward Serviced Offices
During the height of the viral outbreak, whole commercial office buildings remained empty. Though the floors were devoid of any human activity, he lease and rent did not stop and companies were forced to pay for it.
Serviced offices have really change the commercial real estate trends as companies are now moving towards it and abandoning large, expensive offices. At the same time, this has given rise to lots of commercial office properties being converted to small rental units that serve the exact purpose serviced office seekers are looking for.
3. Co-Working is The New Workspace
Though remote working positions are still in demand, the rise of serviced office industry has led to some major advantage for the co working industry. Already providing the same amenities that can be expected of any serviced office industry, these offices are now being caught be large firms for their serviced offices.
4. The Rise of Hybrid Models
Businesses are expecting their employees to return to office environments full of zest and professionalism. In this case, hybrid models are making rounds in the corporate sector. In this model, staff will be able to work according to their demands and this will include partial work at home time and partial work from office time. this type of approach will likely get popular as it provides the freedom that humans seek in the post-COVID 19 times.
Many employees and companies are reluctant to drop the traditional 9 to 5 rigid office schedules with many believing that office is also a part of professional life and should not be terminated altogether. But in the end, what ever the situation or company policy, there is an uptick in hybrid model overall.
5. Less Office Space
Many businesses are now looking for short-term leases and less office space as the workforce demands a hybrid module. This directly boosted the serviced office market. Many companies are avoiding long-term expensive leases and want to experience prestigious locations and office setup for their company without bonding their workforce to a boring office building.
6. Investment in Regional “Hub” Areas
Working remotely does not mean that it will decrease any profits for the companies or their growth will be a stunt. Remote working also encourages companies to expand further into more than one region. By dispersing more remote workers, companies will be able to cover more areas globally. This will result in less growth in flagship campuses, and more investment by companies in smaller regional “hub” areas.
7. Increased Cooperation and Collaboration
One of the direct advantages of creation of hubs and co-working offices is that people from departments and organizations can sit together, while still be able to go about their own work. The interaction is leading to unusual partnerships as employees keep on finding business opportunities and collaborations that the siloed office existence could not.
8. Boosted Productivity
Since the serviced offices is all about providing all the eminities people have become accustomed to during their remote working stints, the familiar setups with the same level of comfort means that the workers and office staff is still able to perform with the same comfort level they have long since become used to.
This means overall a boost in productivity, even when they are no longer working from home. A home away from home, if you will.
Takeaway
Whether it is the hybrid model that is trending or co-working spaces, the post-pandemic conditions demand a well-planned return to offices along with having a safe and employee-friendly environment at work, which not only ensures privacy but also serves mediums for creativity.
While all of this may be difficult to achieve, serviced offices provide the perfect opportunity and the trends clearly indicate that this is not only good for organizations particularly, but other associated industries can also benefit from the trends.
