A recent Colliers survey, based on an analysis of responses from more than 500 Czech employees across a range of industries, has revealed that over 40% of employees consider telecommuting to be a barrier to their career progression.

Occupiers are increasingly forced to adjust to rapidly changing demands from employees. They also have to manage rising costs and meet environmental demands. Property Forum asked James Bartolo, Partner, Head of Multi-Market Tenant Representation EMEA at Knight Frank about the incentives for office workers and the ways companies coop with these tasks.

Despite almost all European office employees working from home last year the empty workplaces did not lead to a reduction in the expenditure that companies had to fulfil had the workforce been in the office. The average costs per FTE fell by only 2% and amounted to €9,468. These findings have been published by Colliers, Occupier Cost Index (OCI), which comprises data from 29 countries, 3,990 buildings, 26.1 million square meters of office space and 1.96 million FTEs.

For nearly 1.5 years, since the beginning of the pandemic, the hybrid work model has permanently established itself in the labour market. According to the report, "Back to the office - an opportunity and a challenge. The office market and coronavirus", prepared by Colliers, the vast majority of companies would like to stick to this model also in the post-pandemic reality. 

Colliers consultants expect a lot of buildings due in 2022 or later to be postponed at least until the market balances itself out.

2020 has been dominated on the commercial real estate market in Poland by the pandemic, whose impact varied from sector to sector though. The pandemic has, however, given rise to or accelerated a number of developments, some of which are likely to stay with us for longer. Real estate advisory firm Savills explores future trends in its preliminary summary of 2020 and its outlook for the next 12 months.

Employers may not unilaterally order employees to work from home even in case of a strong resurgence of coronavirus infections and this would require a mutual agreement under new remote work rules that can now be considered final. Home officing would also be supported by a lump sum payment of overhead costs to the tune of HUF 16,100 (around €45) per month, tax-free. There are, however, still question marks regarding health and safety issues, local daily Magyar Nemzet reports.

Over the past month, most companies in Hungary made an immediate transition to ‘home office’. Cushman & Wakefield embarked upon a study to understand their experiences.