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Hybrid work is here to stay—at least according to CFOs. In a recent IWG survey, two-thirds of CFOs (67%) said they think their companies will still be using a hybrid model five years from now.
One reason? Cost savings. More than eight in 10 CFOs (81%) said that hybrid work saves their companies money, the survey found.
“Enterprises implementing hybrid work can save with lower real estate costs by moving to a shared office or co-working space, downsizing a company’s owned space, or a combination of the two,” IWG founder and president Mark Dixon told CFO Brew in an email.
In fact, the survey found that many CFOs have made or are contemplating such changes. 74% said they were moving or considering a move to shared office or flexible space, and 64% said they had reduced office space due to hybrid work. Nearly half (48%) are signing shorter-term leases for their offices.
The survey results do need to be taken with a grain of salt, as IWG is a provider of flexible office workspaces. However, they’re in line with other data that shows companies are reducing their real estate footprints. US office space declined for the first time since 2000 this year, real estate services company Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. found, shrinking by around 9.7 million square feet overall. And half of the world’s largest firms anticipate reducing their office space by 10%–20% over the next three years, UK real estate firm Knight Frank said, though smaller and midcap firms do plan to acquire more space.
“The genie is very much out of the bottle and there is no going back,” Dixon said in regards to hybrid work. “Employees have realized that hours have been wasted commuting to an office that they don’t need to be in, while businesses have seen that a hybrid model means not only happier and more engaged employees, but also significant cost savings.”