The coronavirus is causing many people to work from home. As companies try to maintain some normalcy during these trying times, they are learning a great deal about their structures.
Employees working from home, remote working, might not be a temporary thing. As evidenced by a survey of CFOs, this is something that is seriously being looked at.
Technology often outpaces society's desire to embrace it. There were many applications that enabled people to work remotely yet it is something that was not embraced.
Until now.
Gartner conducted a study in an effort to determine what things will look like after the coronavirus ends. This included 317 CFOs who overwhelmingly determined that remote work will be a norm in an effort to cut real estate costs.
Of those surveyed, 74% intend to have some of their employees working from home.
During the coronavirus, companies are looking to maintain cash. With revenues cut drastically, cutting expenses is crucial.
This news is not good for the commercial real estate market. As I noted in a number of articles, this sector is not doing very well. The last few years saw the retail sector get obliterated by online shopping. The present situation is likely to increase this since people are ordering things online that they never did before.
Shopping malls were struggling and now we are seeing the other aspect of commercial real estate seeing pressure. If most companies do send a portion of their employees home, this could cause a mass of downsizing. This would lead to an excess of office space around the country.
This is going to affect the prospects of a company such as Simon Property Group (SPG). Simon is the largest owner of shopping malls in the country. Others such as Blackstone Group (BX) could see their commerical properties under pressure.
REITs such as Boston Properties (BXP) are also feeling the pinch.
Things are going to change considerably after this.
To read the full press release by the Gartner study.
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