According to a study by the renowned German economic research institute ifo, around 6% of German companies have reduced their office space since more and more people started working remotely following the corona pandemic.
The research found that approximately 8% of companies surveyed plan to downsize within the next five years.
According to ifo, larger companies and service providers in particular are looking to downsize their office space, while the trend was less pronounced in the manufacturing, trade and construction sectors. Smaller companies are also less likely to downsize, the researchers said.
“Based on our research, we expect demand for office space to fall by around 12% in the long term” due to working from home, said ifo researcher Simon Krause.
According to ifo, around 25% of employees in Germany have been working from home since 2022. The pandemic first hit Germany in early 2020.
“Despite calls from individual companies to return to the office, working from home has now become commonplace. As a result, companies are gradually adapting their office space requirements,” Krause said.
“Since rental contracts are often concluded for a long term, you only notice the final effect after some time.”