Covid might actually result in permanent changes. Sucks for a lot of commercial real estate companies. WeWork is probably 100% done
On top of that, my guess is that WFH people will go out for lunch less often, so those restaurants won't just relocate to more residential areas, they (and their jobs), will just disappear.
Some of these will not want to cook lunch in the middle of work, and at least order takeout instead.
I actually think it might cause a more efficient use of space overall. Lots of strip malls and even regular malls around the country are going to be converted into housing. If almost everybody does almost everything through delivery, there's no need to spend the money on prime real estate and extensive signage, which is very expensive.
Unlikely. Most "dead malls" are in suburban and rural locations, often depressed. Maybe there will be some housing development in the acreage but they're mostly in areas where land is relatively plentiful and cheap. Dying malls aren't going to open up prime real estate because retail in prime real estate is mostly still doing pretty well.
I think this is a pretty big/new tech specific thing, and there are still exemptions. Of the large non-tech companies in NYC, I know a few banks have cafeterias, but the food is both not free and not good
In NYC, the Sweetgreen/Dig Inn/etc. type places in areas with offices are packed from 12pm to 3pm every weekday. It's a huge market for them.
If 10% of the people keep WFH after the pandemics, that means real state prices will plummet. But restaurants will see a 10% decrease on revenue.
Also longer term a lot of housing stock will become les desirable and new residential housing will become bigger and more expensive.
Oh and H&S inspections will now have to be included
Dragging my arse into an open office during a pandemic has killed my motivation completely.
I've gone from hard working to doing just enough not to get fired while I look for another job.
In the UK that might include beautiful countryside in places like Wales and Cornwall, or larger houses available in the North.
Assuming the internet is fast enough!
But, yes, a small urban apartment is not going to be great for working from home. Especially without coffeeshops etc. open. Longer term, people who WFH indefinitely will either need to move to larger places or they'll want a co-working space that either they or their company pays for.
Policy for Home Offices.
OSHA will not conduct inspections of employees' home offices.
OSHA will not hold employers liable for employees' home offices, and does not expect employers to inspect the home offices of their employees.
If OSHA receives a complaint about a home office, the complainant will be advised of OSHA's policy. If an employee makes a specific request, OSHA may informally let employers know of complaints about home office conditions, but will not follow-up with the employer or employee.
https://www.osha.gov/enforcement/directives/cpl-02-00-125#po...
And if its a couple or a shared house even worse - probably increase the divorce rate for couples both WFH
Also, Mozilla will reimburse space in the form of a coworking lease in the worker's city. (Edit: Who knows if this will continue after Coronavirus) I don't think there's any kind of benefit for the costs incurred by the increased use of home space, but I do think there should be.
Mozilla did an ergonomic inspection on my workspace at my request when I still worked in an office. I haven't had one on my home office, but I do agree that companies should pay for ergonomic assessments of home offices.
I do agree that as more traditional companies switch over, they may not be so generous with their reimbursement since one of the biggest benefits for them is cost reduction. They can silently move all the costs of working space onto employees. And I do think this will result in people seeking larger living spaces in general as well, unfortunately for energy efficiency.
WeWork specifically was failing anyway, but it strikes me that in a world where permanent workplaces are deemphasized and workers are inherently more mobile, the market for a broker of temporary spaces is probably larger, not smaller.
Added: And people can make do with situations for a limited length of time whether working from their kitchen table or suffering through a 90 minute commute that aren't necessarily sustainable long-term.
If I were a company with 100 employees, I'd get 50~ hotdesk spaces at my local coworking space chain and let employees come in up to 3 days a week whenever they feel like it.
Probably closer to how a low risk hospital ward is cleaned than the perfunctory wipe - you might also have to use those sealed keyboards designed so they can be cleaned.
However, there might be promise for a sort of coop remote work environment, not necessarily tied to your company, but shared by your neighbors. For instance, I would love to have a work station in the neighborhood, in walking distance to my apartment. I only need a desk, a monitor, decent internet connection, but things like having a more secure shipping address and print/copy/fax/package dropoff would be great perks. I would gladly pay a membership fee for a small, hyperlocal, neighborhood-based incarnation of wework, where I would be guaranteed to have a desk whenever I choose to walk the block or two and get some work done. Basically, the local cafe, but I always have a seat, a monitor, and basic fedex functions.