Workplace Trends – Page 4 – Benchmark Properties

Surging Covid-19 Puts an End to Projected Return-to-Office Dates

If businesses have learned one thing from Covid-19, it is to stop trying to predict when they are going to be back in the office.

Companies across the U.S. said they were returning to the workplace in September, only to put off those plans when the spread of the Delta variant accelerated. Many of those same firms were poised to dust off their office desks in January. Now major banks, technology companies, and other firms have scrapped those plans thanks to the Omicron variant, and a sense that Covid-19 is going to linger longer than most first imagined.

Will Outdoor Terraces and Chefs Lure You Back to the Office? These Buildings Hope So.

Expensive air filtration systems to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Rooftop gardens irrigated by rainwater. A lunchtime menu from Michelin star chef Daniel Boulud.

Developers and the tenants that occupy big blocks of space across the U.S. are making expensive gambles on real estate perks designed for the uncertainties of the pandemic era, hoping the additions will be enough to lure reluctant employees back to the office and retain top talent in high demand. The changes offer hope to owners of trophy properties from New York to Seattle who feared disaster for their investments not that long ago.