Future Of Work — 2023 Outlook

Discover the results of our latest international occupier survey.

executive summary

Whilst by end of 2021, less than 20% of respondents had announced their remote working policies, this percentage has increased by 73% by year-end 2022. Remote working allowances continue to increase, but employers still struggle to bring employees back to the office. They look to offer more real estate flexibility and extend their recruitment strategies to reach new talent pools. ESG is on top of most organisations' agenda and we notice a significant push towards reducing the carbon footprint from commutes to the office via improving the facilities and services offered to tenants to encourage and promote the use soft mobility.

Remote working allowance continues to increase since 2021

Strong consensus remains both from employers and employees on 2 to 3 days of remote working, with a slight trend toward more remote (2.4 days vs. 2.2 days). No major difference based on company size.

Employees do more remote than their allowance

Across all business sectors, we find that employees return to the office for less than what is expected from their employers. There is still a struggle to bring employees back to the office.

The impact of real-estate footprint remains stable despite more remote

The expected space reduction over the next 5 years remained constant at around 16-18% on average.

Expanded recruitment strategies to reach new talent pools

More than 54% of respondents (61% for medium and large companies) are adjusting and expanding their recruitment strategies to new geographies to tap into larger talent pools.

The adoption of flexible real-estate solutions continues to increase

68% of respondents are providing access to co-working spaces to their employees (vs. 53% in 2021). The main reason is to reduce core office space or for ad-hoc meeting and event requirements.

Soft mobility facilities and services are a growing consideration for most occupiers

Over 80% of respondents are planning to increase their investment in improving facilities and adding new services in an effort to promote soft modes of transports, and reduce the carbon footprint associated from employees' commutes.

respondents

We collected over 70 responses from small to large companies, representative of all business sectors, and occupying more than 13 million square meters of office space.

72

Respondents
(Mostly Heads of CRE)

13M+

Estimated Total SQM
of Office Occupancy

Automotive
Logistics & Manufacturing
Chemical & Energy
Banking, Finance & Insurance
Business Services
FMCG
Law
Life Sciences
National Public Sector
Real Estate & Construction
Technology, Media & Telecom
Other

Significant increase of companies that have announced A remote policy

While only 17% of participants had announced their remote working policy last year, this number has now increased to 73% by year-end 2022.

2021

Agreed & Announced
Agreed But Not Yet Announced
Currently Defining It
No Plan Yet

2022

Agreed & Announced
Agreed But Not Yet Announced
Currently Defining It
No Plan Yet

The consensus on 2-3 days of hybrid working remains, with a slight increase toward more remote.

Remote Working Allowance

Remote working allowance pre-Covid vs. 2022 (days / week).

Pre-Covid
2021
2022

Pre-Covid vs. 2022 Average

Average remote working allowance pre-Covid vs. 2022 (days / week).

0.8
2.4

Average Office Occupancy

Pre-Covid average office occupancy rate vs. 2022 average estimated return to office rate.

Pre-Covid
2022

Adoption of Agile Workplaces

Share of respondents with desk sharing, pre-Covid vs. 2022.

45%
81%

Return to office rates remain low and across all business sectors lower than the expected return to office set by the employers.

In days per week:
Estimated Return to Office
Required Return to Office

key figures

Overview and key takeaways for all business sectors.

90%

Have Strong Views on Post-Covid Strategy

2.4

Average Days per Week of Remote Working

81%

Have Desk Sharing Policies Implemented

68%

Will Provide Access to Co-working as Alternative

41%

Will Allow Temporary Work From Another Country

10%

Will Allow Permanent Relocation Abroad

80%

Will Allow the Use of Other Existing Offices

78%

Are Planning Space Reduction

16%

Average Potential Reduction on Required Space

Impact on real-estate footprint

The estimated impact on real estate footprint, despite increased remote working allowance, remains stables between 2021 and 2022 at 16% on average, with no significant difference by company size.

Remote Working Allowance

Average remote working allowance pre-Covid vs. 2022(days / week).

Pre-Covid
2022

Estimated Space Reduction

Estimated space reduction within the next 5 years (%).

2022 recruitment strategy

More than half of our respondents are adjusting and expanding their recruitment strategy to new geographies in order to reach new talent pools.

use of co-working spaces

Co-working locations are mostly used to manage space overflow, ad-hoc meetings & events and to organize ad-hoc meetings as well as internal & external events.

68% of respondents will provide access to co-working spaces as a flexible alternative.

Space Reduction

52% to reduce core office space and use co-working / flexible space as an overflow.

Meetings

52% to provide access to on-demand meeting space.

Flex

34% to replace traditional leases with co-working / flexible leases.

Talent

30% to provide space closer to new talent pools (new cities, new countries).

Coverage

20% to increase coverage in a given metropolitan area (city).

sector-specific report

Want to learn more about your business sector?
We have prepared detailed reports with specific results and insights. Simply use the form below and we will send you the report.

Thank you!
We'll get back to you soon with the report.
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

By clicking on the Submit button you agree to receive the above-mentioned report from Urbanite Advisors.

Urbanite advisors company logo.

©2023 Urbanite Advisors operates in the EU under “Urbanite SRL” in Brussels, “Urbanite Advisors KFT” in Hungary, and “Urbanite Advisors LTD” in the United Kingdom.