by Though they are hardly on their last legs, demand for office space will drop. © Keystone / Christian Beutler Despite the easing of Covid-19 measures, remote working is still widespread in Switzerland, with almost a third of service sector employees still working from home. According to a survey published on Thursday by the Credit Suisse bank and the Procure.ch purchasing managers association, 29% of service employees and 16% of industry employees in Switzerland are still working from home. This has not changed substantially compared to the situation in July, though numbers have come down since the peak of the pandemic, when over half of service employees and around a third of industry workers were in home office. What does this mean for the future of the
Topics:
Swissinfo considers the following as important: 3) Swiss Markets and News, 3.) Swiss Info, Business, Featured, newsletter
This could be interesting, too:
Frank Shostak writes Assumptions in Economics and in the Real World
Conor Sanderson writes The Betrayal of Free Speech: Elon Musk Buckles to Government Censorship, Again
Nachrichten Ticker - www.finanzen.ch writes Bitcoin erstmals über 80.000 US-Dollar
Nachrichten Ticker - www.finanzen.ch writes Kraken kündigt eigene Blockchain ‘Ink’ an – Neue Ära für den Krypto-Markt?
Though they are hardly on their last legs, demand for office space will drop. © Keystone / Christian Beutler
Despite the easing of Covid-19 measures, remote working is still widespread in Switzerland, with almost a third of service sector employees still working from home.
According to a survey published on Thursday by the Credit Suisse bank and the Procure.ch purchasing managers association, 29% of service employees and 16% of industry employees in Switzerland are still working from home.
This has not changed substantially compared to the situation in July, though numbers have come down since the peak of the pandemic, when over half of service employees and around a third of industry workers were in home office.
What does this mean for the future of the traditional office? The Neue Zürcher Zeitung paper also reported on Thursday on a separate study by the JLL real estate group, who said at least half of the 318 businesses it surveyed said they would continue rolling out home office measures.
Asked which changes they would retain from the lockdown, 56% of firms said they would “expand” the home office option.
JLL said this will have a clear impact on the office real estate market, especially since 46% of firms also plan to reduce the space needed for each employee by introducing a system of hot-desking when workers are on site.
Such shifts could lead to a 5-10% reduction in office floor space over the next three years, the report estimates.
Earlier this year, in July, another outlook report by the Fahrländer research group showed that office rent prices fell by 3.3% in the second quarter of the year, during the height of the Covid-19 crisis.
You Might Also Like
Swiss sustainable finance: world leader or wishful thinking?
The Swiss financial centre wants to take a lead in ethical investing. NGOs, however, fear the banks are more interested in cashing in than saving the planet. One thing everyone agrees on is the need for a universal definition of sustainable finance and measures to oversee the sector.
Tour group blames coronavirus for 70 Swiss job cuts
German tour operator TUI is to close eight of its 62 branches in Switzerland with the loss of around 70 jobs, owing to the effects of the coronavirus crisis.
Banks braced as pandemic poses biggest test since financial crisis
During the depths of the coronavirus crisis in Europe in late March, Sergio Ermotti remembers sitting in his home study in Lugano, reflecting on the latest financial meltdown to engulf his career as a banker.
Families face large differences in tax rates across Switzerland
A comparison of tax rates across different cantons and cities found that Zug – home to many multinational companies – offers the most attractive tax regime for families.
Trading platforms profit from pandemic chaos
While Covid-19 has been wreaking havoc on the economy, many banks and trading platforms have recorded bumper results. Profits were boosted by elevated trading activity, but future prospects are mixed depending on the type of financial player.
Pandemic speeds up push to digital as bank branches close
Swiss lender Credit Suisse is set to launch an overhaul of its digital banking offering, as it uses the coronavirus crisis as a springboard to accelerate the push from bricks-and-mortar branches to online services.
Credit Suisse makes digital push as it closes down branches
Credit Suisse is taking on so-called challenger banks with a new digital service for customers, including a debit card with no foreign transaction fees. The bank is closing down branches across Switzerland and is converting others into a “digital bar” concept.
Swiss regulator censures Bank Syz over money laundering
The Swiss financial market regulator FINMA has reprimanded Bank Syz for breaching money laundering rules involving a business relationship with an Angolan client.
Tags: Business,Featured,newsletter