Commercial investment set to increase
According to a new survey conducted by JLL, major business leaders across the Asia-Pacific region are planning to increase their investments in commercial real estate from now through 2030.
The real estate giant’s latest Future of Work survey polled 2,300 business and CRE decision-makers across the world and found that seven in 10 APAC leaders are expecting to increase their budget for property in the years ahead. That largely translates to greater investment in office spaces to accommodate their workforce.
Neil Murray, JLL’s global CEO of work dynamics, commented this represents a significant change over the last two years.
“Since our 2022 survey, the CRE landscape has become increasingly complex and dynamic, evolving towards better office use. We see that in these results, and in our conversations with clients,” Murray said.
According to JLL, shifting attitudes towards office-based work since 2022 have encouraged respondents to see the need to increase use of office space. APAC companies are considered “office advocates”, with 49 per cent stating they would like to see staff in offices five days a week, compared to 44 per cent of global respondents. India and China led this trend. On the other hand, Singapore, Korea and Australia were among the APAC nations that said they preferred hybrid workstyle.
Currently, 85 per cent of APAC organisations have a policy of at least three days of office attendance per week, and four in 10 expect the number of in-office days to increase by 2030.
“The future of work looks different across companies and regions, reflecting the unique nature of organisations and employee needs. It keeps shifting and requires building evolutionary office programs and spaces, able to adapt to continuous changes in the workstyles,” said Cynthia Kantor, CEO of project and development services at JLL.
“Globally, as CRE budgets and footprints receive new investment, the corporate real estate function must effectively partner with the C-suite to demonstrate the desired value,” she added.
Beyond their real estate-related objectives, business leaders globally are mainly focused on three corporate goals over the next five years: growing revenue through expansion and M&A (57 per cent), attracting and retaining talent (53 per cent) and achieving organisational efficiency (54 per cent), according to JLL.