Flexible Working in the Real Estate Industry

Will everyone now go back to the office?

On the 2nd of September 2022, the Financial Times published the article “Summer is over. Will everyone now go back to work?” (Raval and Edgecliffe-Johnson). The article discusses how some companies are making a big push to get employees to return to their desks, even though many people have grown used to remote working. Some businesses believe that returning to the office is important for company culture and junior employee training, but others think that hybrid working (a mix of remote and in-office work) is here to stay. So what’s the story in the Real Estate industry?

Flexible working in the Real Estate industry

For companies in the Real Estate industry, it will likely take another six to twelve months to fully understand the UK’s flexible working future and how to manage it. The property industry has been online for a long time, so pretty much everything we do is electronic and online: in many ways, you can open your computer at home and operate through Microsoft Teams as if you were in the office; there isn't much you can't do at home. However, many business leaders feel that face-to-face interaction is important for teamwork, company culture and junior employee training, and time will tell exactly how companies in the property industry are going to manage flexible working in the long term. 

Flexible working was never a one-size-fits-all solution in Real Estate.

When it comes to remote working in the Real Estate industry, one size does not fit all. Whether we are talking about firms with hundreds of employees, or firms with less than ten employees, every firm has a different view.  There are some companies that have always promoted remote working, and that's an entirely different approach to the majority of firms where remote working was generally not encouraged pre-pandemic unless it brought practicality for work travel. 

The downside of working from home in the Real Estate industry 

Not being in the office has some downsides: you don’t hear what people are saying in the office and you can’t ask questions as easily when you’re not in the same room. Junior members in particular miss out from a training perspective. It is also less easy for senior team members to interact with their team because they are simply not in the same room, and therefore they also miss out on what everyone is doing.

Is the property industry heading back into the office?

For large businesses in Real Estate - there is a strong tendency to work from home several days a week. However, it’s fair to say that people are spending more time in the office than they were six months ago. However, I haven't noticed a significant shift in people returning to the office several days a week, so is the jury still out, or is this the new normal? 

What will the new normal look like? 

There has been such a seismic shift, so it would be odd if remote working wasn't here to stay in some form. There are businesses that don't want / need employees in the office, some which need people in the office all the time, and those which can operate the hybrid model without any adverse impact on their productively, or even see an uptake on productivity. You can work really successfully from home, but whatever your role is or level of seniority, you cannot put a value on face-to-face contact, and therefore the question is not ‘will we now go back to the office’, it’s how will employers balance the need for face-to-face interaction, work-life balance and productivity.