The participating companies indicated that hybrid work has brought cultural and measurement challenges and, contrary to what one might think, productivity does not stand out among the main concerns.
Developers and investors in Latin America maintain reservations about implementing hybrid work models, according to a study on work schemes in Latin America by the multinational firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), a leading global provider of real estate management and investment services.
The research gathered data and information from nearly 300 companies in 13 Latin American countries.
“So far, caution has prevailed among developers and investors in the region’s main office markets, as evidenced by the slowdown in the pace of new inventory production, the decrease in transaction volume, and the increase in capitalization rates for this type of asset,” the study notes.
The sample includes companies from various economic sectors. The most representative are financial services and insurance (17%), technology and telecommunications (16%), industry, manufacturing and logistics (12%), construction and real estate (9%), and consulting and professional services (9%).
It highlights that the current state of work in Latin America is hybrid and diverse. Before the pandemic, two out of three people went to the office five days a week. Now, only one out of five does. In contrast, hybrid work has tripled.
According to the report, Latin America has the lowest adoption rate of remote work, at only 10%, and the highest penetration rate of hybrid work, at 72%. Participating companies indicated that hybrid work has brought cultural and measurement challenges, and, contrary to what one might expect, productivity is not among their main concerns.
At the sector level, the most pronounced transitions toward greater flexibility are seen in technology, consulting and professional services, and consumer goods companies. In contrast, the transitions were less pronounced for construction and real estate, healthcare, and manufacturing and logistics companies, according to the study's findings.
Hybrid scheme
The most popular hybrid work model, used by 29% of companies, consists of two days in the office and three days remote. This model is particularly popular among companies with more than 750 employees, multinationals, and companies in the financial and insurance, and technology and telecommunications sectors.
The second most common hybrid model consists of two days remote and three days in-person, accounting for 18% of total responses. The types of companies most frequently adopting this model are similar to those of the previously mentioned hybrid model: companies with more than 750 employees, multinational corporations, and mostly from the financial and insurance, and manufacturing and logistics sectors.
These two schemes, which before the pandemic had a third share of the hybrid spectrum, doubled their relevance, surpassing by a wide margin the most popular hybrid scheme four years ago: one remote day a week.
Although the most popular hybrid schemes suggest a lower average occupancy of office space, they present a challenge in terms of managing the days with the highest attendance, given that Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are typically the days preferred by most employees globally.
Half of the companies still haven't found the formula
Three percent of these companies will migrate to a more remote work model, while 12% will incorporate more days of in-person work. Seventy percent of this latter group consists of companies that currently operate under hybrid models with two or three days of remote work.
On the other hand, the proportion of companies that do not plan to migrate to another model is higher at the extremes of the hybrid-remote work-from-home spectrum. 63% of companies that attend the office every day of the week do not plan to change their model, while that proportion is 64% in companies that operate 100% remotely.
The high degree of uncertainty regarding work arrangements highlights the difficulty in estimating future demand for offices.
An increase in office attendance, and therefore higher average occupancy, could boost demand for space, especially in the most attractive buildings in each market: given a new paradigm in which incentives for office attendance are a key part of policies, the quality and location of spaces become more relevant, they indicate.
With information from Forbes.
