Work-From-Home Policies Are a North American Trend

Imagining the future of the workplace has become a favorite pastime for commercial real estate players. In the US, most experts are banking on the emergence of a hybrid workplace strategy where employees split their time between the corporate office and home office. In Europe and other parts of the world, the office is expected to prevail.

“Around the world, there is a different dynamic about hybrid work. People in America are used to working from other places and their culture is not as tied to the office. In other places around the world, they don’t have the space and the technology to work from home, even if they wanted to,” Scott Nelson, CEO of occupier services at Colliers, tells GlobeSt.com.

In Europe, companies across industries did transition to a work-from-home model during the darkest days of the pandemic back in 2020, but the transition was more challenging than in the US. Employees have quickly transitioned back into the office as a result. “Work from home is definitely not at the same scale in other counties that it is in the US,” says Nelson. “It comes down to the amount of space that each individual has in the US and the technology that is available to them to work outside of the office.”

In the US, many companies were already exploring hybrid workplace strategies, according to Nelson. The pandemic only accelerated the trend. “In the US, we were already seeing this before COVID. The home office trend has continued to accelerate over many years, and COVID really put rocket fuel into the trend,” he says. “It doesn’t mean that office is going away. Many businesses like tech, life sciences and healthcare need office spaces.”

Even if a hybrid work strategy becomes the standard in the US, Nelson says that office spaces will still play an important role in workplace strategy to accommodate employees on in-office days. “On the days that employees do come into the office, companies want people to be able to come in and collaborate,” says Nelson, adding that the office will need to be at ready for employees whether the hybrid schedule includes a few in-office days each week or a handful each month.