Global trends are shaping the way we work & live

14 June 2022
The world is evolving at speed never seen before. The real-estate market is more than ever influenced by social and environmental aspects, including demographic evolutions, urbanisation, climate change, and a multitude of trends derived from the pandemic situation. Those trends directly impact the way cities are built, thought and evolving, and by extension the way we work and live.

At Befimmo, we aim to create, build & animate thriving Work & Life communities for a sustainable future. As an innovative market leading company, we have to anticipate the changes in order to meet the needs of tomorrow.

We discussed with Tamas Polster, CEO & co-founder of Urbanite Advisors, a consulting company specialized in location and real estate strategy, to better understand how these changes will impact the real estate market. See below a short summary of our key learnings:

1. HYBRID & REMOTE WORK ARE HERE TO STAY

“How and where we work has changed dramatically during the last 2 years. Some companies already adopted hybrid working before the pandemic, but the biggest remote working experience ever conducted at global scale drastically accelerated what has now become a reality: hybrid and remote work are here to stay. According to our survey, companies are now planning 2,5 days of remote whilst employee are expecting closer to 3 days/week. What we also see is that offices and physical spaces remain critical for in person interactions and company culture, as only 5% of companies plan 4 days of remote or more. Workspaces today have to be thought and designed in order to foster collaboration and interaction.”

Befimmo’s mantra is to create spaces where people can work, meet, share and live. For years now, Befimmo has worked to meet the changing needs of individuals and of businesses of all sizes: offering spaces for social and professional interaction, dedicated to teamwork and collective efficiency, and also to quiet focus time. Befimmo translated this vision into its own offices, in the Central building, creating a workspace that reflects today’s hybrid world of work. The space is made up of dynamic and stimulating collaboration areas, comfortable "bubbles" for informal discussions and traditional but ergonomic offices for daily work. And hard work paid off, as our headquarters have been elected “Office Space of the Year 2022” by CBRE.

2. WORK & LIFE ENVIRONMENTS AS A SERVICE ARE THE FUTURE

“The office as a collaboration place: with individual work shifting to home, the majority of space provision will be collaborative. Occupiers are therefore looking for more flexibility and services. According to our survey, 76% of the companies want to increase the amount of shared collaboration and meeting spaces. Over 50% of companies are even planning to offer co-working as alternative location to their employees. The lines between traditional office and co-working are progressively fading and the demand for more hospitality type services, like catering, concierge, shared mobility becomes the norm.”

At Befimmo, we accompany our clients throughout their real estate journey. We offer them an ultimate experience, a one-stop-shop they can entrust with all their needs and expectations in terms of work and living space. The users are at the heart of our business model and we mean to offer them an increased range of facilities and services to make their lives easier. We envision places where all users can enjoy a pleasant, safe and connected work experience, with a focus on hospitality as a booster of inspiration, well-being and productivity.

3. WORLD OF LIVING IN CITIES WILL FURTHER GROW

“Both employer and employee continue to favour central urban and mixed used areas to mix work and urban experience. According to the survey results, 2.5 times more companies plan to move to central location than less central ones. Attracting talent back to the office will be a major concern for all employers with the focus on central, accessible and vibrant locations within the city. Demand for central urban locations will therefore remain strong for both office and residential use. There is a clear convergence between the office and residential with occupiers as residents in need of more flexibility, service, and community experience. This more mobile urban workforce is pushing demand for the private rented sector and co-living sector across Europe.”

To make sure it can respond to this emerging trend, Befimmo develops an inner-city approach and concentrate its activities on 5 BeLux cities with economic growth and academic or research centres. Next to this, Befimmo will also focus on driving sectorial diversification and limit its exposure to traditional office buildings while driving towards faster growing segments. The mid-term ambition is to have an increased share of mixed-use work, flex & life hubs and develop residential assets.

 

The three trends above have been accelerated by the impact of the pandemic on consumer behaviour and outlook. As a result, a significant shift towards hybrid work-and-meet ecosystems is expected to prevail on the longer term. Although this will lead to a change in traditional workspace requirements, the office will remain essential as a place for collaboration and face-to-face communication.

You’ve read it, the way we work and live is changing. Befimmo aims to anticipate and accompany this change, resulting in an unrivalled client-experience for our users.

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