Much has been said about the future need for the office since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, but in Germany if anything we are seeing office leasing deals pick up again faster than expected. Recent examples include DKB taking out 35,000 sq m office space in Berlin’s Europacity and engineering firm Hitzler Ingenieure agreeing to move into a new headquarters with a total area of over 3,500 sq m in Munich-Schwabing on 1 January 2022; both are advised by Savills and are the largest deals in their respective cities in Q1.
However, nobody is denying that there aren’t any changes in this new ‘post-Covid’ world. Here are three topics that our clients are increasingly asking us about:
ESG
At nearly all of our most recent pitches, the main question was not costs per square metre or rent rise expectations in a certain city but about our clients’ ESG (environmental, social, governance) requirements. We are seeing more and more companies publically committing to reducing their carbon footprint and having an office portfolio that is fit for the future is a key criterion for this. This includes having state-of-the-art air conditioning and access to open spaces.
Data
While the use of technology, especially data, in buildings is nothing new, the way that companies and employees expect to use it going forward has accelerated due to the pandemic. This incorporates everything from making buildings safe by, for example, having no-touch buttons and different entry and exits to desk booking systems and, given the increasing attention on ESG, reducing energy costs and improving building efficiency.
An example of this is sensor technology feeding through to apps that share information with the end user about environmental factors and ultimately quality of the working environment.
Talent acquisition and retention
Before the pandemic, unemployment figures in continental Europe were at a record low and, although they have increased over the last year, the rates are starting to go down again. For example, in Germany, unemployment figures in April 2021 dropped by 0.2 per cent on March 2021 to 6 per cent.
Linked to both ESG and technology, employees are expecting their office to offer something that they cannot get at home (such as a high-speed internet connection and easy access to IT support) while buildings need to adhere to their increasing consciousness about the environment and society. Only those companies whose offices offer all of the above and more are able to attract and retain top talent, especially if unemployment figures drop further in the near future.
Given these trends, it is fair to say that offices will continue to exist and be a key part of a company’s ESG and employee strategy. If anything, companies are now willing to commit more time and money to finding the right office.