The contraction in demand for offices has reflected the consequences of the changes in work habits that companies have undergone in the last 18 months.

The corporate real estate market based on its ability to develop modern, functional and iconic buildings had managed to guarantee important economic returns to investment trusts or Fibras, with the security of income in the medium and long term, on a par with markets such as industrial .

It was common in the large Latin American corporate markets to see the main multinational firms occupying spaces and being the central axis that demanded novel design guidelines, where comfort, security, access to facilities constituted a market where developers compete to attract firms of greater international projection.

Santa Fé, Reforma, Polanco and Insurgentes in December 2019, prior to the pandemic, advanced with the construction of 90% of the million square meters that were built in the capital, where the vacancy was already around 19.40%.

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As a result of the appearance of Covid, Mexico for two months the federal government did not include work from offices as a fundamental activity and companies prepared their strategies to continue operating with most of their workforce from their homes.

These changes opened two important windows of awareness towards the relationship between work and personal life, which from then on defines the guidelines for the gradual return to the office.

The technology that had been progressing moderately took a leap and became part of the majority of processes, which forces companies to validate the personnel they need and the resources they demand to carry out their work, including here the corporate space and the endowment and equipment in order to meet your work goals.

The reduction of corporate space that we have observed in the main Mexican cities, such as Mexico City, Monterrey, Tijuana and Guadalajara is foreseeable where if the results of 2Q 2021 are compared with 2Q 2019, prior to the pandemic, the contraction was 56 % of gross demand.

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In the case of the capital, the difference is even more marked since the unemployment included in the net demand creates an even more pronounced contraction.

Now, if we compare the demand in 2Q 2021 with the previous quarter, it has remained at similar levels. Gross demand in the order of 84 thousand square meters and the net with a negative balance of 64 thousand square meters, characteristic of a market where vacancies still exceed the new spaces that are demanded.

Another important observation that is reflected in the new occupations is that even with fewer spaces for workers, corporations are including larger areas of collaborative and creative spaces, equipped with multiple technological and communication tools that allow the integration of staff working in offices with those who work remotely.

Fixed positions both in configuration, distribution and quantity have changed significantly, adjusted to the new modality that some companies will maintain flexible work, where in an agreement between company and employee the days of permanence in the office are determined.

Flexible work is the pivot on which the new way of working in offices is articulated. The proportion of workers who return will set the density of vacancy to which the areas of connectivity and multiple uses will have to be added, which will facilitate integration with the rest of the personnel who work remote.