Jonny Rosenblatt, speaking for flexible workspace operator Spacemade said; "The momentum for flexible working has been growing steadily over the past decade. Employers have embraced a rise in condensed hours and staggered hours and occasional working from home.

"Coronavirus is accelerating this change in an unprecedented way and signals a significant shift in the future role of the core office and flexible working patterns."

As the firm conducted a survey, results showed that a significant number of Londoners were open to the work from home set up. Meanwhile, 61% wanted to take 2-3 days working from home while the rest of the workweek reporting to company headquarters.

At the start of the year, experts and thinktanks expected a rise in the 'work near home' model. Some believed 2021 would see a drastic change in workplace arrangements.

"The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) found between 25 per cent and 30 per cent of employees will be working from home on any one day in 2021 after finding strong demand for more flexible jobs, up from a tenth in 2019."

But instead of taking months or years to come to fruition, work from home arrangements happened within months of 2020.

Senior economist at CEBR, Pablo Shah opines:

"This seismic shift, taking place in months rather than decades, will transform the worlds of property, transport, retail, leisure and, not least, fashion. Ten years ago, this would not have been possible."

The pandemic has shown employees and employers alike that the remote working revolution is here and staying. All these technological advancements are making productive work possible.

Shah believes that remote working is palatable for most employees and he sees that this is also an attractive setup for employers.

"Combine this with the cost savings from the reduced use of office space and remote working will likely prove an attractive prospect for employers even after the pandemic has passed."

Dan Silverman at Spacemade also points out to the sensibilities of companies. With the economic uncertainty, he believes organisations are now more sensitive to their real estate costs. He expects a shift in corporate spending as companies will be looking at more flexible ways to manage their office requirements.

"High-quality office space will be more important than ever before. The central London HQ will have an even bigger part to play as a collaborative, productive space for teams to come together and exchange information and ideas, but post-COVID there will need to be a stronger purpose for people to commute each day."

Sources:

https://www.propertywire.com/news/londoners-want-to-partially-work-from-home/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/19/survey-finds-third-us-want-carry-working-home/