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Millennials Drive Workplace Operations, Environment, Technology Decisions
Cushman & Wakefield’s latest occupier report, Space Matters, dives deep into four areas of importance to today’s CRE executive. It analyzes the national trends behind office density, amenities, parking, and concessions. Additionally, it provides market-by-market comparisons of vital benchmarks for 40 of the country’s largest and fastest-growing cities.
Cushman & Wakefield’s David Smith, Americas Head of Occupier Research says, “Millennials are now the largest generation in the workforce, and they are driving the agendas of how companies operate, what workplaces look like, and what technology is expected. They are not just businesses’ young workers either. Millennials born in the early 1980’s are increasingly the leaders of their organizations.”
Among the key tidbits pertaining to California markets include:
– VCs have recognized inherent value in real estate new technologies. According to PitchBook data, the number of venture capital investments in real estate technology startups and early-stage companies more than doubled between 2013 and 2017. The value invested in these proptech deals nearly quadrupled over the same time period—from $523 million to just shy of $2 billion.
– The predominant reason people utilize shared-ride services, such as Uber and Lyft, is to avoid parking. Parking costs in San Francisco are some of the highest in the country, and San Francisco is one of only two markets where the allocation of parking spots is less than 1.0 per 1,000 square feet leased (0.8).
In some cases, this has entailed providing valet or shuttle services to connect offices with off-site parking or even lots/garages in different parts of a city. A well-known example of this is Google; the company connects its Mountain View campus with various stops throughout San Jose/Silicon Valley, San Francisco and the East Bay.
– Millennials rank work/life balance as the No. 1 most important factor in their job satisfaction, while having a private office is No. 9 on the list
– Despite advances in technology, many office buildings continue to struggle with some of the basic offerings such as seamless, high-speed internet and cellular service
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