If during lockdown just 4% of the employees continued to work at the office, the occupancy rate of office buildings will increase ten times in the next period. However, more than half of the employees working in the services area will continue, at least for a while, to work from home, according to the survey conducted between May 21 and 29 among 33 companies in Bucharest and Cluj with a a total of over 17,000 employees working in office buildings.
Half of these companies have returned or will return to the office with a significant share of employees during June, almost 20% of companies scheduled their return in September, while 13% of the surveyed companies, especially small and medium, intend to return to the office only at the beginning of next year.
In this context, 30% of the interviewed companies say that in the next 12 months they will need less office space, 61% of the companies cover their office needs with the already contracted spaces, while 9% of the companies expect they will need extra space.
“Companies will continue to practice a mix of office work and home work for a number of reasons, such as the desire of some companies to test the efficiency of working from home on a longer period of time or the more cautious attitude of some employees, who prefer to avoid as much as possible the crowded places, such as the public transport. The most important aspect is related to the fact that, at an average density of about 10 sqm / employee – the local market standard before the pandemic, it is impossible to return to the office with all employees in compliance with the recommended distance rules. Thus, we consider that this percentage of 40% is close to the maximum capacity of the office spaces already rented in the current context, reconfirming the need for office premises and even the potential to resize them by taking over additional spaces,” said Madalina Cojocaru, Partner, Office Agency at Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
The stock of modern offices in Bucharest and Cluj reaches almost 3.5 million square meters, hosting over 300,000 employees in various fields, such as IT, telecom, financial services (banks – insurance), professional services (lawyers – consultants), media, etc.