Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners": corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. I welcome your comments on these articles.

1. Netflix’s Reed Hastings Deems Remote Work ‘a Pure Negative’

Launching Netflix in 1997 as a DVD-by-mail movie-rental service with Marc Randolph, Mr. Hastings grasped early that the internet was the future of distribution. First with old movies and TV shows that Hollywood studios and networks were more than happy to sell, then with original programming such as “House of Cards” and “Stranger Things,” the streaming giant has built a global subscriber base approaching 200 million households world-wide.

Along the way, Mr. Hastings has built a distinctive—and, to some, cutthroat—corporate culture. The Netflix way encourages staff to take big risks, typically without the need of approval from a chain of bosses, and to communicate with blunt candor. Leaders often practice what is called the “keeper test,” in which they ask themselves: If a staffer were offered a job elsewhere, would you fight to keep that employee? If the answer is no, the person is let go.

In his new book “No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention,” Mr. Hastings likens being employed at the streaming giant to being part of a sports team: Getting cut is disappointing but carries no shame. “Unlike many companies, we practice: Adequate performance gets a generous severance package,” reads one of Netflix’s mottos.

2. JPMorgan Summons More Investment Bankers to Offices: WFH Tracker

Half of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s investment bankers are now coming into their London and New York offices.

The U.S. bank has requested that 50% of its dealmakers be in the office on a given workday, up from 25% previously. The increased presence started Monday in London and Tuesday in New York with bankers working from home or the office on alternating weeks.

Citigroup Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG are also boosting the number of employees returning to their London offices.

3. Dear Wall Street, Your Boss Wants You to Come Back to the Office

Up and down the new virtual Wall Street, the question has started to creep in: When will the bosses order us back to our real offices?

Almost six months after the coronavirus pandemic emptied towers and trading floors in New York and beyond, JPMorgan Chase & Co. executives have discussed compelling people to come back into the city and other places where Covid-19 has subsided, according to people familiar with the matter.

The bank already asked some new analysts to report into offices in New York and London to get up to speed in person after online classroom training. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. advised recruits to station themselves near its offices should they be called in. And Blackstone Group Inc. has encouraged investment professionals to return.

4. Re-imagining Your Core Office Space for a Flexible Workforce

About 22 percent of respondents found that collaboration and participation in meetings waned since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey conducted by Colliers.

The survey, led by Colliers Workplace team, found that while half of respondents were able to maintain or increase their productivity while at home, about 41 percent found social interaction better at the office, as well as 22 percent for collaboration and participation.

The Colliers report proposes moving away from traditional occupancy patters in the office into managed occupancy patterns in a post-COVID 19 office environment, where workspaces in an office are scheduled or allocated to certain employees or teams in shifts or varying days.

5. SIOR Members Report Highest Transaction Volume Since Pandemic Began

SIOR’s fifth monthly Snapshot Sentiment Survey of its members finds that member transactions are at their highest levels since the pandemic began, and broker confidence is back to 6.58 on a 10-point scale after declining in July.

The survey found that 45.2% of all deals are going through as planned, compared to 26.1% in April.

Cancelled transactions also decreased in August, with the industrial sector reporting 13.2%, the lowest levels since the pandemic began. Canceled office transactions also dropped, down to 18.8% from July’s peak of 19.7%.

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

Ken Ashley