5 Authentic Reasons Why Office Space is Becoming Obsolete!
The future of office space may seem bleak but with innovative and adaptive solutions property owners can experience new possibilities.
Most people desire to work in a prestigious organization like Google, Amazon or Apple, with well-established office blocks in urban cities. Such facilities cost a leg and an arm for big organizations leaving a big dent on their budgets. Despite the financial burden, most organizations are normally torn between cheaper office space in the outskirts of the city and pleasing their high profile clients by renting space in an upmarket area. As you can imagine, the latter consideration always takes precedence.
Remote Working
However, cost considerations have become real in light of the Corona virus pandemic. As the virus spread, most organizations embraced a work-from-home policy to reduce the rate of infection.
The concept of working from home has been in existence for many years and has tremendous benefits.
According to The Entrepreneur some of the benefits of working from home include increased productivity, less time wastage on commutes, happier employees and reduced cost on office supplies, snacks and working space.
The Future of Office Space
The reality is that the working landscape is changing pretty fast! Any tasks that can be done online and delivered remotely decrease your need for a physical office. For instance, if you run a freelance writing business, all you need is a website, laptop and an internet connection to get the job done!
Both writer and client can connect online and complete their business transactions without ever having to meet!
This switch from the traditional office setup is becoming the new normal. Limited office spaces for organizational presence and contact with clients will be a natural mode of operation.
Most tasks will be assigned to freelance professionals whose services will be task-based hence reducing operational costs even further.
But what are the benefits?
1. Reduced operational costs
Change is never easily accepted. However, technology has a way of converting even the hardest skeptics to adopt a new idea. If you own a business and are keen on cost management, it’s time to work remotely. Unlike businesses that deal in bulky goods requiring storage, many service businesses can reduce operational costs such as office rent, supplies and furniture by working remotely.
2. Quick turnaround for tasks
Working remotely means that most assignments will be task-based with delivery timelines. The key ingredients of your employees’ performance will be based on timely delivery, accuracy and productivity. You will be able to clearly tell which employee has good return for your business by putting systems in place to monitor progress and reward performance.
3. Reduced wastage of time on the road.
Going to work can become a long and demanding journey depending on the city where you work. According to a report by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute shared by CNBC, commuters in Los Angeles spend an average of 119hours a year stuck in traffic! That’s five days held bumper to bumper. That will be reduced to zero hours with remote working.
4. Cheap or affordable labour
Remote work introduces variety to employers whether they would want to employ full-time staff or seek the professional services of a freelancer. Of course labour laws in many places protect the employees’ rights to pensions, medical care and other benefits. But with new employees, companies can adopt freelance services to reduce their operational costs drastically.
5. Increased Job Opportunities
Fostered by strong and dependable technology, remote work has the potential for increased organizational efficiency. This new and urgent need for adapting new technology will drive new jobs in the cyber security and data security sectors. According to a Burning Glass Study shared by IBM, the demand for cyber security experts increased by 94% in six years compared to any other IT job! This is a clear indicator of the opportunities to come.
But are there drawbacks to working remotely?
Reduced Rental Income
This is the most obvious and immediate effect of working remotely. It’s more than certain that prices for office blocks will fall and the owners will need to embrace new ways to stay afloat. One of which can be sharing of office space by several organizations. This is called Co-Working; a concept where you get a full-time office but only pay for the desk you occupy.
Lost Work-Relations
One of the core drawbacks of remote work is a collapse in your social interaction at the work place. For many ages the workplace has been a place of connection and building each other socially. Due to the isolated operations your work relationships and professional networks are likely to suffer a natural death due to the little contact. You might decide to adopt conferencing technologies such as Zoom and Google Meets but still that cannot be equated to physical proximity to your workmates!
Deplorable Customer Service
No client wants to be attended to by a person they can’t see or feel or even touch. In remote working that will become a reality! This will also lead to organizational cultures that are more productivity-focused than being customer-focused.
Data security
In case you’re considering remote work as a cost reduction strategy for your business, you will need to implement robust data security measures to guarantee protection of both organizational and customer data. Since most of your company’s work will be transmitted online via the internet, the risk of your private information falling into the wrong hands can be devastating. Hackers and malicious criminals could easily use that information to extort you and your customers.
The Corona virus may have caused a lot of pain and hardship for many people but it should also open your eyes to see the opportunities. Going forward work will not be the same again. There’s a breakaway from the routine and a need to change not only the way we work but also where we work. The future of office space may seem bleak but with innovative and adaptive solutions property owners can experience new possibilities.