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. Younger Workers Want Office Return More Than Older Ones: Surveys

There is an increasing body of evidence that the age cohort that most wants to return to the office is younger workers.

Surveys since the novel coronavirus pandemic sent so many scurrying to work remotely—and threw the market for office space into such tumult—suggest that it’s not older workers who might not be as familiar with telecommuting technology that want back into physical workplaces but the tech-savvier likes of millennials and Generation Z.

Some 70 percent of Generation Z and 69 percent of millennials surveyed by Cushman & Wakefield for a summer analysis called “Future of Workplace” reported challenges in working from home. That was compared to 55 percent of baby boomers.

The main challenge? Finding space. Older workers are likelier to have dedicated workspace at home, according to the Cushman & Wakefield report. They’re also less likely to have distractions such as roommates—or their baby boomer parents themselves as many younger workers have moved back in with family amid the pandemic upheaval. Finally, younger workers are also likelier to be caregivers at home, either to older parents and younger children, including ones in need of home-schooling.

2. What CEOs Really Think About Remote Work

CEOs and other executives say they’ve seen enough to judge whether remote work is working. But the verdict depends on whom you ask.

Here’s what some leaders are saying about working from home and the value of an office:

“I don’t see any positives. Not being able to get together in person, particularly internationally, is a pure negative.” —Reed Hastings, co-chief executive of Netflix Inc., on working from home

“I don’t believe BlackRock will be ever 100% back in office. I actually believe maybe 60% or 70%, and maybe that’s a rotation of people, but I don’t believe we’ll ever have a full cadre of people in [the] office.”—Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock Inc., speaking at the digital Morningstar Investment Conference on Sept. 17

3. Silicon Valley's workforce is falling out of love with massive tech campuses. Experts predict what will take its place are networks of satellite offices.

When will it be safe for tech employees to return to the office? What happens to employees who want to leave Silicon Valley? And what does the future of the office look like? These are the questions that major tech companies are grappling with as the coronavirus crisis stretches into the fall.

Many large tech firms, including giants like Facebook and Google, have pushed back plans to return to the office until summer 2021, and have said they anticipate a rise in remote work.But experts told Business Insider that the office — and Silicon Valley — will look very different by then.

With workers leaving the Bay Area and companies wary to have thousands of employees all in one place, San Francisco may not be the central tech headquarters it's been for decades.

4. Remote Work's Appeal Shows Signs of Fading

The remote work model may have an expiration date.

Last week JP Morgan startled the financial world by indicating that its productivity is falling as its employees continue to work from home, particularly on Mondays and Fridays.

CEO Jamie Dimon made these comments in a private meeting with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analysts, according to a report in Bloomberg. Now the bank is urging workers to return to the office

Another sign of corporate disillusionment with the WFH model comes, albeit subtly, from Google CFO Ruth Porat who told Bloomberg TV that employees having the chance to work together in-person is key to fostering innovation.

5. The Uncertain Future of Corporate HQs

The Covid-19 pandemic has seen tens of millions of Americans engage in a gigantic experiment in working from home — one that looks to be more permanent than anyone might have imagined. Corporation after corporation has announced that they won’t be reopening their offices until mid-2021, at least. Some commentators are even predicting the death of the office and the end of cities.

But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Now, more than ever, the issue of where we work — of place and location — remains a fundamental question.

Pandemics and other crises can disrupt or change the status quo, but history shows they can also accelerate trends already underway. The question of where to locate corporate facilities has been increasing in strategic importance for a long time.

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

Ken Ashley