Ad agencies, auto, law and medical firms cut their office space by 30% in 2020: CBRE
Over the past five years, demand for office space in Thailand has changed significantly, with most customers now focusing on cost-effective use of leased space, said Chanwit Pasuwat, chief of design development at commercial real-estate agency, CBRE.
According to Chanwit, before the arrival of the pandemic in 2020, 53 per cent of customers between 2015 and 2019 were focused on growing their business within the existing office space.
As of 2020, cost control and risk reduction became key factors in the leasing of office space. Now, many firms in the Asia-Pacific region believe that by 2025, the outlook of office space will change, especially in line with work-from-home trends brought on by the Covid-19 outbreak.
Rungrat Weerapakkaroon, chief of CBRE Thailand’s office space department, said that in 2020, offices in Bangkok had either merged or reduced by up to 30 per cent, mostly in the advertising, automotive, legal and medical sectors.
In comparison, e-commerce and logistics businesses have expanded their office spaces by up to 100 per cent, while technology platform firms expanded by 200 per cent.
This expansion is the result of a rapid growth in online businesses over last year. Now most companies are rethinking their office space plans and weighing whether they should renew their leases or relocate.
Chanwit said that in 2021, organisations should focus on flexibility and ensuring a better experience for employees while they are at work. This may result in the modification of office space as companies make adjustments.