IWG plans to add thousands of locations in the upcoming period as it sees pent-up demand for flexible office spaces across the world. At MIPIM, Property Forum talked to Thomas Sinclair, Chief Investment Officer and Giles Bateman MRICS, Regional Development Director – Continental Europe at IWG about the benefits of flexible spaces for corporates and the post-pandemic development of offices.

CEE-based flex workspace provider New Work is introducing a new “Space in the Cloud” service which not only helps new and existing tenants save money but allows them to manage their workforce in a more flexible and ESG-compliant way.

The pandemic has radically changed the way we relate to workspaces, so the way they are designed and conceived must also adapt. Existing office design patterns must either be forgotten or rewritten as it has become clearer and clearer that the rules of the game have changed and fresh creative ideas are needed to overcome challenges in today’s office lives. Looking forward, 6 major trends are defining the offices of the future, according to Genesis Property’s expert, Dan Bondar.

The appearance and functionality of a building’s reception area is in many cases the first impression of a company that potential clients and business partners will see. Do you remember the lobbies that truly impressed you? In the same way, you probably haven't forgotten those that did exactly the opposite. Smart systems in the reception area can enhance a positive experience, solve several problems and improve collaboration across departments. Can your receptionist do that too? Katarína Karmažinová, PR Manager at Colliers in the Czech Republic asks the question.

Analysis of 44 key office markets in EMEA showed a 155,000 sqm increase in the total amount of flex workspace, according to Colliers. This increase equates to 25,000 extra desks. Contributing to this increase was the addition of 285,000 sqm of newly opened space, but this was offset by 130,000 sqm of space that closed and a further 23,000 sqm that was abandoned. However, nearly a third of the space that closed was due to WeWork streamlining its business in key European locations such as Barcelona, Copenhagen, London and Oslo.

Some companies have seen slight increases in the productivity of employees working remotely since the pandemic, which fuelled the idea that most employees can continue to work from anywhere since they can be just as productive as working from the office. But there is a contradiction here: on a global scale, more and more people worked and lived under stressful conditions in the last year and a half. In this context, the big question is if people can be more productive remotely in the long run. Moreover, this situation brings on a very important idea, that offices should become hubs designed for productivity and sustain a much less stressful way of working for employees in the long term. Gavin Bonner, Vice President at Genesis Property explains the topic in an opinion piece for Property Forum.

More businesses have discovered that remote work arrangements support growth, but the future of work will include both office-based and remote work, driven by the nature of tasks, suggested speakers during the workplace strategies panel of SEE Property Forum 2021, Property Forum's annual event in Bucharest.

Property Forum is happy to join New Work as an info partner for its upcoming webinar on 27 October where CEO and Founder Hubert Abt will walk participants through the trends driving the dynamic flex office market in Europe and share how operators or investors can profit from its growth.

The future of work is hybrid – this was the main message of Pauline Kwasniak, a Polish-born, Irish-raised digital marketer, founder and event professional who headlined workcloud24’s latest webinar. The organiser summarised the key takeaways of the event.

The size of companies shapes the way in which they plan to resume work in office buildings, commented key speakers during the post-COVID-19 workplace strategies panel of CEE Property Forum 2021, Property Forum's first real-life event back in Vienna since 2019 which was attended by over 400 people coming from countries all over the region and beyond.