CBRE Korea, announced that according to its recently released 2019 Korea Occupier Survey report, companies will consider a broader range of office solutions as they look to build greater flexibility into their portfolios.

CBRE conducted a poll of 70 corporate real estate executives from local companies and multinationals during February and March 2019. Most respondents identified enhancing space efficiency or increasing collaboration space as their main corporate real estate strategy. Technology advancement and activity-based working (ABW) are expected to gain traction in the coming years. Aligning corporate real estate objectives with business aspirations (25%), senior management intentions (22%) and adopting workplace strategy (19%) were identified as the greatest challenges to corporate real estate operations.

Don Lim, Managing Director of CBRE Korea, remarked, “Occupiers are aware of the importance of workplace strategy as a business strategy but are finding it difficult to implement due to lack of experience and capacity. Occupiers should formulate an appropriate corporate real estate strategy that can fit current market standards by conducting their own analysis and consulting with professionals.”

The survey found that 91% of respondents were aware of ABW and 64% of respondents who are aware of ABW have already implemented it or have plans to implement it over the next three years. ABW means that the employees can choose their workplace style according to their work characteristics in order to maximize work efficiency. Notably, 24% of respondents said that employees regard ABW as the most important aspect of their office.

JY Yoon, Executive Director of Global Workplace Solutions at CBRE Korea, said, “ABW is expected to enhance corporate agility and mobility to effectively cope with the fast-changing business environment. The number of occupiers who implement ABW to increase employee satisfaction and leverage the advantages of flexible workplaces will go up.”

Claire Choi, Head of Research at CBRE Korea, explained, “Occupiers should take advantage of flexibility in lease contracts by analyzing the best lease option. Landlords should introduce greater flexibility into lease terms or attract flexible space operators as tenants to respond to occupiers’ increasing demand for flexible space.”

The survey found that 55% of respondents had plans to increase investment in real estate technology over the next three years. Firms expected the main benefits of real estate technology to be enhanced productivity (44%) and cost savings (42%). On the other hand, respondents stated that obtaining a budget (23%) and resistance from top management and employees (29%) could be problematic in implementing new workplace technology.

For more information about the CBRE Korea 2019 Korea Occupier Survey, or to discuss the Korean property market, email JY Yoon, Executive Director of Global Workplace Solutions at CBRE Korea or Claire Choi, Head of Research at CBRE Korea via the contact details below. 

Source: CBRE Korea 

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