Chennai, NFAPost: Corporate real estate (CRE) leaders in India are optimistic about their business and recovery plans despite impact from the ongoing pandemic. At least nine in ten leaders polled by JLL believe their organisations and employees will help successfully mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on their businesses.
CRE leaders are now moving forward confidently in (re)imagining the new modern office, with a focus on prioritising the health and wellness of employees, as well as leveraging technology in their investment plans, said the report by JLL. Concurrently, most polled CRE leaders in India expect total footprint and number of sites that they maintain to remain the same or even increase.
In the report titled ‘Optimism in the Face of Crisis’, CRE leaders are highly positive about the future state of their business. While nearly 80% in the APAC region are confident, they have the right CRE service partner to advise on next steps, the percentage in India stands at 70%. While 70% of APAC CRE leaders are assured in their governments’ ability to advise and take the right measures to mitigate future risk, corresponding number in India stands at 58%.
“As the corporate sector prepares for the next normal amidst the pandemic, the elevated confidence of the CRE leaders suggests immense opportunities as we redefine the future of the office. Approximately 70% of Indian CRE leaders surveyed have expressed optimism about the future of their business,” said JLL Managing Director- Corporate Solutions (West Asia) Sandeep Sethi.
“Not just that, over 90% of Indian CRE leaders are confident of their own business / recovery plan to mitigate impact of COVID-19. They have a clear view of what they must do next to make the next generation of workspaces healthy and safe and enable their on-site and remote teams to collaborate and be productive. We anticipate CRE leaders to factor these into the next phase of their decision making,” he added.
More than two-third of CRE leaders have shown optimism about the future state of their business. Employees too showcase high confidence in the future of their companies. CRE leaders have shown highest confidence in their own business and recovery plan to see them through the COVID-19 crisis. While 93% of APAC leaders stated that they own business recovery plan to mitigate impact of COVID-19, 91% of Indian leaders have expressed the same. The survey further revealed APAC leaders have highest faith in the resilience of their employees.
About 88% of Indian leaders are ready to cope with the current crisis and step into a new business reality compared to 90% in APAC. About 70% of the Indian leaders are likely to adopt Proptech solutions to respond and adapt to new requirements arising out of COVID crisis. Some de-densification of portfolio is expected by reducing the numbers of seats. While in APAC before the pandemic the number of desks per 100 staff stood at 91, post pandemic, it is will be at 82. In India, the number is expected to be 85 post-pandemic from 94 before the pandemic.
Current measures to become permanent features: Expansion of remote working policy is expected by both technology and banking sector CRE. Increase in virtual meetings and rotational staff arrangement is being adopted widely. In the future, CRE is set to actively invest in technologies that optimises productivity and collaboration among on-site and remote workforces.
