Businesses and landlords needing advice on how to safely bring their staff and tenants back to the office after the COVID-19 lockdown can now receive recommendations within a week from experts at Colliers International. The global real estate consultancy is using expertise from its Workplace Advisory and Project Management teams, within the EMEA Occupier Services department, to provide, quick, detailed and innovative solutions to maximise office capacity – including cost estimates.
Colliers has established that in most corporate offices only 40 per cent of desk space will be used initially when staff return to the office because social distancing measures will be expected to continue for the next few months. This means that unless significant changes are made to layout and office design, many people will have to remain working remotely for the foreseeable future.
Lukas Litera, Head of Building Consultancy, Colliers International Czech Republic said: “Responsible employers will be prioritising the health and wellbeing of their staff as part of their return to the office planning. However, in order to welcome staff back there will have to be a significant amount of changes to office buildings in the short-term, such as increasing distances between desks, creating one-way systems and communal areas. Everything is changing so quickly at the moment, which is why we’re also offering a speedy service to help businesses identify what they need to do to enable a safe return to the office, and how it can be delivered.”
The Back to Work Navigator service will evaluate five areas where changes can be made to maximise office capacity and support productivity; design, navigation, behaviour, hygiene and technology. The service is available to occupiers as well as landlords needing to plan the reopening of their multi-let office blocks.
Colliers’ will also be able to support businesses in implementing their recommendations, as well as consider the long-term strategy for their offices.
Jana Vlkova, Head of Workplace Advisory, Colliers International Czech Republic added: “We expect that COVID-19 will have a long-term impact on the way that we work. We know from our global Working from Home survey that 80 per cent of respondents have said they would like to continue to work remotely at least one day a week. So, after this initial return, it is likely that office spaces permanently change again as they become more focused on bringing people together, whether it’s to work on projects or to build relationships, as opposed to daily locations where we go to do our work.”
