Technology Remains A Disrupter
From the mid 1980’s to 2020, devices that changed the way we worked included faxes, emails, mobile phones, CPU’s, Wi-Fi, emails, and fibre. At the same time, advances in connectivity changed the speed with which something could be delivered and include the ethernet, Wi-Fi and fibre.
As tools and connectivity kept improving, people learnt to work further and further away from their desk. As this occurred, the need for office space naturally decreased. Average office use densities in the mid-1980’s were around 15 m2 per person and at that time were based on one person per allocated workpoint. By 2019, this was 10-11 m2 per person and the majority were still 1 desk per person. That is roughly a 33% decrease in space per person over a period of 35 years; approximately 1% less space per person per year over that same period.
During that period, costs increased, so to cut office expenses, corporates started inverting the equation (X m2 per person) to persons per X m2. The constant m2 per person is now around 10 m2.
2020 forced everyone to untether from their desk even more. It is now mainstream.
In November 2022, Open AI launched ChatGPT. By all accounts this AI evolution will have huge impacts on life and work. One thing is for sure, it will bring huge efficiencies to business (big and small).
But what of the impact on office space usage? That will depend on so many factors but mainly how much office occupiers are prepared to invest in technology. The greater the investment in technology, the more efficient and productive they will become and in turn this will impact office space use. Will it be the same as the period 1980’s to 2020? A slow burn? Or, will it be like the period from 2020 to today?
As it’s impossible to predict systemic change like that of the last 4 years, we’ll have to wait and see how our working lives evolve in the years ahead.
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