Will we need offices in the future?

In today’s world, the question whether businesses in the future will need separate offices, work desks and computers, or people will be able to work at home, on the beach, in the shop or in the gym more effectively than under the “strict” walls of the office, has become very urgent issue among the owners of office spaces and renters.

On the other hand, there is a demand in workforce reduction, the prerequisites of which are quite many in the standard office: first of all, physical work is actively automated with the help of cloud solutions, outsourcing and digital technologies. That’s why, in many companies support-functions (for example financial, accounting, HR, IT and more) are implemented by outsourcing. So, having such a staff in the office and related works are not profitable at all. Along with reduction of employees, the employer also reduces some other costs, including costs for office rent, furniture, equipment, parking, cleaning services etc. According to the international Hays agency, more than 63% of companies use fired employees’ workforce, whereas only 5-10 years later their number will increase by 11-20%. Modern technologies allow everyone to negotiate quickly and efficiently through video conferencing from any corner of the world, which significantly save space and, most importantly, time.

The opposite trends, that are also noticeable, allow us to think that the physical presence of the offices is still necessary. The concentration and consolidation of business leads to the fact that the directors of companies want to open larger offices just in the capital. So, large and especially multi-holdings do need offices.