Back to the office?

More people are working from home since the onset of Covid-19, leaving offices largely empty. For the most part, the Lens is used to this so-called ‘new normal’, but we are beginning to wonder what the future holds for office life.

As the pandemic continues, many parts of the world are slowly re-opening and people are returning to their workplaces, ever-changing social distancing measures in place. For many office-based businesses, this poses a challenge – it’s not always easy to maintain your personal space in the cramped space of a lift. Covid-19 figures are on the rise again.

The Financial Times recently reported that the success of office staff working from home has turned the City into a ghost town and threatens to transform London’s financial district.

But in conversations with real estate experts, the Lens found that all is not lost – the office is not dead, yet.

In Germany, offices are a dominant force in open-ended property funds, according to a report by Hamburg-based real estate specialist Intreal.

As the working from home trend expedites, investors in the sector may need to rethink certain aspects of their portfolios, such as location and functionality of space.

Virtual working has proven robust enough, and many white-collar workers may have found respite from the rat race and daily commute a blessing. At the Lens, we’ve embraced technology as best we can even if we never imagined holding virtual roundtables and meetings six months ago.  

For some things, however, life through a screen is never the same as face-to-face. Even if the workplace is undergoing change, offices are still relevant in these strange times we’re confronted with.