Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, wrote an email to his employees stating, “To give employees the ability to plan ahead, we are extending our global voluntary work from home option through June 30, 2021, for roles that don’t need to be in the office. I hope this will offer the flexibility you need to balance work with taking care of yourselves and your loved ones over the next 12 months.”

Siemens, the largest industrial manufacturing company based in German, announced that 140,000 of its employees may work from wherever they want for two or three days a week. The work-anywhere— several days a week.

Back in May, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, in a paradigm-shifting, Covid-19-inspired move, informed his employees that they can continue working from home “forever”, which followed by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announcement, said he would permit his employees to work remotely too.

Of course these companies are among of a few trend setter companies. Their decision and strategies will be a reference to many companies in the world, which will significantly effecting the office space and rent world wide.

Quoting from Cushman and Wakefield’s website “With most tenants across Asia Pacific having experienced partial or total remote work during the pandemic, we have naturally seen a fall in demand for space alongside widespread rental decline.”

Those facts will lead us to one big question; “Is working from home the end of office?”

Let’s start from realizing the true human nature, social being. That’s why when Covid-19 forced human to distance from each other most of us confused, worry and panic. Those difference reactions creates social turmoils, which is worsen by the fact that no one prepared for such an event. Business world was even more panic and confused to deal with too many unanswered “how” questions.

However, eventually human will adapt. Creativity and adaptation are two God given powerful abilities of human being. Human being will always find new ways, which will eventually become new normal. Of course with inevitable consequences. Working from home is one of it, with its consequences, such as of empty chairs at the offices.

But human resources needs physical collaboration. Team work spirit in companies grown of direct individuals interaction. Chemistry and trust are build from long term relationship. All of it needs space to flourish, we called office. Something can not be replaced by online meeting applications. The warm natural laughs out of lunch time jokes are irreplaceable by square boxes of your faces on the online meeting screen.

Yes, companies are starting to restructure their human resources, alter their office space needs, and renegotiate their office leasing agreement, which hurt office buildings big time. But surely this is not the end of office. Office buildings at the other hand will eventually creatively find ways to rent their empty spaces.

Will we going back to pre-covid-19 business normal? No. Just like the world is never be the same pre-world wars. Just like the world will never be the same pre-internet invasion to every segment of our lives. Will the office space back to its pre-covid-19 style? No. Work from home has somehow taught us that not every body need to be at the office at the same time all day, which will significantly reduce the need of square meters. But every companies will still need office.

The key in survival and eventually successful is adapt. Something like wearing mask while with others, or sitting one meter away from each other in a board meeting. Here is where the business leaders are tested; capability to creatively change and adapt. The areas where Carstensz can help you find the right adaptation paths, keep you on the right track and successfully enter new business world.