What was The Buzz in October?
Our monthly roundup of real estate industry news.
Aside from a(nother) new Prime Minister, mini-budget U-turns, and a seemingly ever-shrinking economy, in the real estate world, the focus largely remains on work and workplace. October also saw CREtech NY, see our earlier overview for a roundup on that.
Health and wellbeing remain a topic of priority.
Flexible workspace provider, IWG, announced two new partnerships – with Bupa (health insurance and healthcare group) and Hussle (flexible gym provider). These partnerships aim to build on the wellbeing benefits popular amongst hybrid and remote workers enjoying time saved on the commute to prioritise exercise, social and family commitments.
https://bdaily.co.uk/articles/2022/10/10/iwg-partners-with-bupa-and-hussle-to-revolutionise-hybrid-working
What is the key to happiness?
There’s much debate on whether remote work is good or bad for mental health.
A 2022 Future Forum survey compared knowledge workers- full time in-office workers felt least satisfied with work-life balance; hybrid workers were in the middle; and fully remote workers felt most satisfied. A mental health website called Tracking Happiness found in a 2022 survey of over 12,000 workers that fully remote employees report a happiness lever about 20% greater than office-centric ones.
https://fortune.com/2022/10/10/remote-work-hurting-mental-well-being-work-life-boundaries-careers-bosses-gleb-tsipursky/
Are digital nomads the future?
Work from Anywhere (WFA) jobs are up 48% from last year, according to job search engine Adzuna. As the name suggests, WFA refers to the policy of empowering employees to complete tasks in any desired location. It could be the office, home, cafes, co-working space, on holiday or on the go. At The Buzz, we are huge advocates for WFA, one member of our team is a digital nomad and works all over the world, Spain, one has converted their garden shed in to the office, most work remotely, and some get together in coworking spaces when they want some company or to work on a project. Paul Lewis, Chief Customer Officer at Adzuna, said: “the writing is on the wall and many sectors will likely consider becoming more digital nomad friendly as a means to attract and retain talent, particularly those like Tech that have historically relied more on younger workers.”
https://hrnews.co.uk/work-from-anywhere-jobs-up-48-from-last-year/
Could cost of living worries prompt the long-promised RTO?
According to Infogrid, 74% of Americans and 70% of Brits are “concerned” that the energy crises will impact the cost of working from home. Nearly one in four UK employees plan to work more from the office this winter to cut down on home energy costs.
https://www.ft.com/content/34aabcdd-9b30-41e2-932c-b2f80ea16e17
Are fears of a recession impacting the war on talent?
Brian Elliott, SVP of Slack and executive leader of its research consortium, Future Forum said: “competition in today’s economy is about talent. It’s about the ability to attract, retain and engage talented people and to get them collaborating as efficiently and effectively as possible”. Elliott fundamentally thinks that transparency is a really important quality for leaders to show. Those that can manage transparency, offer flexibility and focus on outcomes, will survive and thrive, despite a recession.
https://www.raconteur.net/hr/talent-management/competition-for-talent-is-of-bigger-concern-than-recession-says-slacks-future-of-work-expert/
What should my hybrid strategy look like?
The question for many businesses is how to implement a hybrid workplace strategy. Will by employees take advantage of coworking spaces? And what will they use them for? Given that these patterns of behaviour are new and still forming, it’s hard to find the data to answer these questions. Our clients, LiquidSpace, launched The Happy People Hybrid Workplace Index, this month, providing data-driven insight into employee flexible office use, workplace preference, and spend.
Download the report in full: https://blog.liquidspace.com/news-stream/happy-people-hybrid-workplace-index.
