How much capital are you burning each month on unused office space?

With the pandemic forcing many teams to work remotely and temporarily close their office doors, is maintaining the same level of office space prudent as things return to ‘normal’?

Whether you’re looking to expand your team or simply get employees back in the office, flexible working, with a reduced office size, may free up cashflow, make employees happier and increase productivity.

The majority of your workforce may not want to return to the office full time

A report by Robert Half suggests that one third of employees currently working from home may quit if they are required to work full time from the office! In addition, the majority of employees said that they prefer a flexible or hybrid work arrangement with only 2% wanting to go back to a 100% office-based setup.

So, while you may be preparing your office to be reoccupied, is your workforce even ready to come back?

Paying for empty desks

For most organizations the costs related to property are the second highest expense they face after staff salaries. The average monthly workstation price in central London is £626 for a private office and £341 for co-working space.

Now do the maths. Multiply this amount by between 33%-50% of your staff number, the percentage of your workforce who would be spending a maximum of 8 to 10 days in the office every month. That is a huge cost to pay for a lot of empty desks!

Scaling your team without added office expenditure

Perhaps, after a period of uncertainty, you are now looking to expand your team? With traditional working practices, this would mean allocating a dedicated desk and increasing your monthly overhead. But is this necessary?

With the majority of employees wishing to employ a flexible working approach, and with software such as Evac One making it simple to manage a flexible workforce, it may no longer make sense for each employee to have their own desk.

Many teams are working extremely well with enough desks for 50% of their employees, effectively halving office costs.

Flexible work is associated with a host of other benefits

Not only does employing a flexible working approach have a direct impact on costs, there are also a number of secondary cost-savings. 

For example, studies associate flexible work with improved employee mental health and perception of wellbeing, reducing the requirement for non-work-related spaces in the office such as meditation rooms or nap pods. 

Flexible work is also associated with greater employee productivity, meaning you get more output for each £ spent on staff costs.