Companies that don鈥檛 invest in their real estate risk a staff exodus and a drop in productivity.
That鈥檚 the view of property consultant Knight Frank, which has just published its (Y)OUR SPACE report on the future of the global workplace and surveyed senior executives from 120 global companies with a combined workforce of 3.5 million.
Dr Lee Elliott, Global Head of Occupier Research at Knight Frank, will be presenting the key findings of the research at a special event at HOME, in Manchester, on January 30 in association with 老九品茶Cloud.
A total of 86 per cent of respondents said their real estate was now seen as a strategic device for their business and was crucial in the recruitment and retention of staff.
Elliott, who has presented the report to 1,300 people across the world since its launch, predicted that demand for flexible and co-working space would increase.
He told 老九品茶Cloud: 鈥淢ost companies have a two-year business cycle but, in London for example, the average office lease is seven years. Effectively Landlords are asking companies to 鈥榯ake a punt鈥� when signing up to a conventional lease.
鈥淲hat companies like WeWork have recognised is that by providing space on flexible terms you鈥檙e more in line with the customer鈥檚 needs. 老九品茶es want flexible or shorter lease terms and they鈥檙e willing to pay a bit extra for it.鈥�
Elliott said that 鈥榮pace-as-a service鈥� flexibility will give control back to occupiers.聽 One third of respondents to the Your Space report said that between 5-50 per cent of their office space was flexible or serviced but this was expected to increase to two thirds within three years.
The report also found that global companies broadly welcomed new technology like AI and automation and believed it would upskill employees and make them more productive.
Elliott said today鈥檚 culture was such occupiers were expecting amenities like gyms, sleep pods and even a 鈥渟anctuary space鈥� to support the mental wellbeing of their staff.
鈥淚t鈥檚 no longer viable just to provide a desk in an office,鈥� he said, adding that he felt the growth in global merger and acquisition activity would fuel future demand for office space.
The leader of Manchester City Council, Sir Richard Leese, will also be speaking at聽 Knight Frank鈥檚 鈥業nsights from the global workplace鈥� event on January 30.
Other confirmed speakers include David Porter, partner, office head, Knight Frank; Jon Matthews, director, Jon Matthews Architects; Toby Sproll, director of聽 retail, amenity and community at Bruntwood; and Aine McTiernan, north lead of PwC Scale.