Post COVID return to work

[410001661]

Once the vaccines are implemented and we have some resemblance of order what will the modern workplace look like? I hear many people talking about not going back to the office (or rather not wanting to go back to the office). I saw this article and it got me to thinking. Sure there will be your rock star account managers or and other customer focusing resources you will need to retain but if your inside sales, technical support, finance, marketing, or logistics do not want to go back to the office and remain working remotely are they shooting themselves in the foot? If they are already working remotely why do you need to pay someone in GTA that salary & benefits to do the job that can obviously be done anywhere? If that person wants to move to Florida or their summer home on PEI and work remotely what is stopping your employer from just hiring someone from New Brunswick or Florida to do your job? It would certainly be cheaper to near source your back room support from a region that has a lower cost of living (and lower wages) than pay premium GTA wages to a person that is no longer living in GTA.

https://fortune.com/2020/12/06/offic...-stats-data-2/

I just think it is going to be a vey interesting next couple of years.

[dean.f]

This is an interesting topic for sure, it has been in the back of my mind for a while. I fortunately (or unfortunately) have a job that requires physical presence but for so many this is becoming less so.

I'm sure it may appear lucrative in the beginning for companies minding the nickles and dimes, but things seem to have a way of ironing themselves out. Are the required skills available in other regions? Is working remotely as efficient as a physical presence? Will people from other regions demand higher wages knowing what the current market offers? Does the infrastructure exist for data transfer?

This could change things for a lot of people, offering more opportunity to people living in more remote areas and injecting money into the economies they live in. It could also motivate the current mass exodus of the urban areas and alter the lifestyle of rural Canadians.

I guess I should make some popcorn.

[JBen]

This topic has come up occasionally. I suspect at some point the people thinking this is great. Are going to regret it. Certainly there are some people that will be hard to replace. But the worlds a big place, with lots of people who have the skills and can do the same job for far far less.

We are also going to lag behind the rest of world recovering. When everyone is getting up to speed, we’re still going to be struggling. That could affect exports of goods and services.,,and bottom lines making us less competitive.

In the end who knows but if I was pulling in a GTA salary?and working remotely I’d be planning on a downsizing

[poltrojan]

I work as a Bell Field Tech, so that option was never in place for me, but I'm making it for you! ^__^
Soon you'll be out in the country home not too far from Bell Tower with (clear line of sight) Wireless Home Internet option of 25/5 or 50/10. Cheers.

[JBen]

Had read this earlier. Found another with some thoughts that make sense. Again these things are just plausible. What is safe to assume, is that over the next few years. A lot, likely will change. And for Canada, given some things (like taxation, expensive personnel and real estate.......heck even Hydro once again.

Our offices were on the top floor of one tower. The lease was a few million/year. Companies will start there. Why pay X million to lease in the GTA. If I’m looking at the bottom line, or even shareholder returns for publicly traded companies. “Do we really need 30,000 sq feet, when half the people”...

....personnel will come next.

https://www.ft.com/content/192eb45a-...6-57cb743ac2f2

And on the other end.
why pay a Canuck top dollar with our high taxation, lifestyle/col, when the world is your playground....

Language barriers? What does the same cost in New Brunswick? Think people there make the same $$ as those in Ontario?

[MikePal]

Saw a blurb on office vacancy rates....I think an extension of the 'work from home' will be the mass demise of 'bricks and mortar office space.

With thousands of Torontonians working from home, the downtown Toronto office vacancy rate is expected to grow even more by the end of this year.

According to CBRE’s new 2021 Real Estate Market Outlook, downtown Toronto office vacancy will rise to 12.4% this year — a noticeable increase from 2020’s 7.2% and 2019’s 2.2%.



Toronto’s suburban areas also saw an increase in the office vacancy rates, going from 11.8% in 2019 to 15.3% in 2020 to an anticipated 17.5% in 2021.

“It is anticipated that we could see some space reduction as [work from home] is more formally adopted, however we are just as likely to see footprints grow as occupier’s de-density their space and increase their space per-employee,” the report reads.

Prices for Toronto’s office rentals are “anticipated to hold near current levels in the year ahead” due to the “institutional nature of office tower ownership in Toronto,” the report says.

[MikePal]

Soon you'll be out in the country home not too far from Bell Tower with (clear line of sight) Wireless Home Internet option of 25/5 or 50/10. Cheers.

I had it installed last week..so far so good. I can see the light on top of the tower from my yard

[JBen]

I spent my life in those towers. Those are just the most obvious. Think about some standard white collar workers. Traders? Accountants, bookkeepers, lawyers, paralegals. Real estate lawyers and their people. The list is endless. Spin offs like TTC/Go train, all the retail with super high leases. In reality when the dust settles, Tory can lay off 10-20% of the cops and paramedics.
There’s way too many variables and moving parts.

But it’s already started.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/busi...-scotia-plaza/

[73hunter]

Long before Covid, I wondered why so many companies were in a rush to blow their money on GTA real estate prices and the salaries that accompanied them.

[410001661]

The company I work for closed down all regional sales offices in 2017 (including the Canadian office in Whitby) and moved the sales force and managers to home offices and build large head office in Chicago. Back room support (finance/pricing/inside sales/marketing) in the various regions was moved to Chicago.

In the beginning of COVID (April 2020), the company decided to go a agent sales model rather than the direct sales - laid off 82 sales guys in North America. Fortunately about 50% - 60% of the guys were hired by the agency now supporting our company. Now that the dust has settled there are 2 Canadian employees - me and a guy in Calgary managing two sales agency companies covering all of Canada.

I was on a WHQ (world headquarters) virtual meeting this week for a COVID update call and lots of questions around 'will I have to return to the office', and 'what happens if I made personal decisions that makes coming to the office more difficult'. Our VP said openly "let there be no mistake, when it is safe to do, we will be returning to our offices in the Chicago area just like we did pre-COVID".