Mexico City 16, December of 2021. CBRE Research & Workplace Strategy, leaders in commercial real estate, released a market study covering future aspects of corporate environments class A/A + in Mexico. The report details relevant aspects such as hybrid work spaces adapted to realities that tal ented professional require. The document focuses on the configuration, and schemes of work.

According to CBRE, companies occupying buildings rated A/A+ during 2021 had 15 % of their personnel employed for less than a year, which means that some of them have not been at the office even once. Also, between 40 and 50 percent of those working in the office use public transportation services.

RETURN TO THE OFFICE: FLEXIBILITY AND INCENTIVES TO ATTRACT PERSONNEL

The slow return to the office brought by the new normal requires the adoption of flexible work schemes, allowing alternative scenes in the use of office space, where collaboration, the innovation, and a new company culture can convert talent into results and productivity for both company and individual at the same time.

The intensive use of the public transport in populated cities of Mexico is at the center of corporate planning, a true challenge attracting human resources into office spaces. An important aspect in solving the issue of commuting to workplace is considering public city areas as part of the new corporate world, allowing employees to combine their work in flexible city spaces. Even when employees using public transport to get to class A/A+ buildings are less than those accessing other buildings, their number is practically half the total employees, and they spend in average one hour a day commuting in the system. This situation demands creating incentives like more time to commute, in order to attract personnel back into the office.

SCHEMES AND WORK SPACES RECONFIGURATION

Regarding workspace schemes, the report shows that remote work happens 2 or 3 days per week, depending of the roles and process each company has for their territory. Some departments will require 3 or 4 days of office work, while other may only need 2 or 3. At the same time, companies added 20 to 30% more co-working spaces the office. Training in new configurations, and technologies for co-working, as well as methods to schedule the use of these spaces is making this kind of offices more attractive than ever.

The report by CBRE Research and Workplace Strategy shows up to 70% of the employees prefer working in hybrid schemes; 60% said that the main reason to go to the office is for collaboration, while 50% prefers their own location to work remotely. Twenty percent of those going to the office perform jobs where the individual is required.

CBRE predicts that work in hybrid spaces will continue evolving supported by technology but backed up by a reactivated economy, better knowledge, and innovation. In Mexico, before the pandemic, only 11% of the companies declared readiness to work remotely (INEGI, 2020). A reason for this disadvantaged situation is the lag of technology Mexico has compared to developed nations, and the nature of the activities offering direct customer services, for example the public government sector, said Azul Gomez, responsible of the Strategy Workplace.

Azul Gomez added that, in this context, corporations occupying premium building spaces, in privileged locations, for whom collaboration and productivity mark their work process, it will be important to change the paradigm in order to maintain leadership for motivating the employees. The sector of services with the great value added in Mexico requires of system that allow identifying the what, how, when and where of the new work and hybrid spaces.