RESEARCH REPORT

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand
Survey Spring 2023
<Detailed Report>
The gap between companies’ actual coming-to-office ratio and future intentions shrinks ahead of the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

August 18, 2023

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Survey Overview
What impact do the long COVID-19 pandemic and its end have on the work
styles at Japanese companies and office demand?

Attributes of respondent companies

Since autumn 2016, Xymax Real Estate Institute (“Xymax REI”) has been
conducting a questionnaire survey of companies across Japan on their use of
offices and their employees’ work styles on a semi-annual basis to analyze therelationship with office demand continuously. This report is on the the resultsof the 14th survey.
Survey period

June 6–June 18, 2023

Targetrespondents

47,616 companies in total that include the following:・Tenants of office buildings managed by the Xymax Group・Companies subscribing to ZXY, a satellite office service forcorporate customers
・Client companies of XYMAX INFONISTA Corporation

Number ofvalid answers

1,722(Aggregated in office units; therefore, answers from different
offices of the same company are treated as separate answers.)

Geographicalcoverage

Nationwide (Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi, Fukuoka, Kanagawa, Saitama,
and Chiba Prefectures)

SurveymethodEmailThe percentage mix in the charts contained in this report is rounded to the first decimal
place and, therefore, may not add up to 100%.
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Main Findings
1.

1 tsubo = 3.33 sqm

Outlook of office demand (from P.4)●

The percentage of companies with an increase (29.7%) in office occupants over the past year exceeded that of companies with a decrease (10.9%).

●

As for changes in office size over the past year, the percentage of “Expansion (actual + potential)” rose after bottoming in the Spring 2021 survey,
overtaking the rate of “Downsizing (actual + potential)” this time.

●

The percentage of companies with an increase (14.7%) in rent per tsubo over the past year exceeded that of companies with a decrease (2.5%).

●

35.4% of the companies replied that the number of office occupants would increase, a rise of 13.2 pt from the Spring 2020 survey.

●

In terms of office size, the percentage of “Want to expand” (15.6%) outweighed that of “Want to downsize” (6.3%).

2. Factors that affect office demand (from P.19)●

As for the coming-to-office ratio at the time of the survey, the percentage of “100% (come to office full time)” was 25.7%, the highest since the COVID19 pandemic. Regarding future intentions, “100% (come to office full time)” was 25.6%, with the remaining 74.4% intending to continue implementing
telework. The gap between actual and intention has shrunk compared to previous surveys.

●

3.

32.1% of the companies felt their office was small, outweighing those that felt it was large (15.6%).

Work styles and the workplace (from P.28)●

The most popular type of space companies wanted in their office in the future was “Booth or private room for remote meetings” (29.1%).

●

The companies’ comfort rating of their main office revealed that only 19.2% of companies achieved “psychological comfort,” the top comfort level.

●

The availability of a work-from-home policy was 45.6%, continuing downward after peaking in the Spring 2021 survey. On the other hand, theavailability of satellite offices was 30.3% and increasing every year.

●

The most popular current issue was “Not enough meeting rooms or private rooms for remote meetings” (35.3%).

●

Compared to before the pandemic, the percentage of replies that employee performance and well-being “improved” exceeded that of replies that they“declined.” There was also a positive correlation between these evaluations and office comfort ratings and the availability of places for telework.
●

As for companies’ interest in using the different types of satellite offices, the most popular was the “Intensive solo-work type” (63.0%) and the “Citycenter touchdown type” (62.8%), rising in percentage by nearly 10 pt from the Autumn 2020 survey.
3© Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

1. Outlook of Office Demand
1. Changes over the past year
2. Future intentions

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1.1. Changes over the past year

Rise in ratio of companies with office occupant increase; continued decline in decrease
Figure 1 (red frame) indicates the change in
the number of office occupants* over the pastyear.

Figure 1: Change in Number of Office Occupants

The percentage of companies with anincrease (29.7%) in office occupants
exceeded that of companies with a decrease(10.9%).
Compared to previous surveys, thepercentage of “increased” has been risingsince bottoming in the Spring 2021 survey,
while that of “decreased” has been declining
since peaking in the Spring 2021 survey.
*The number of people belonging to the office,regardless of whether they come to the office ornot)

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1.1. Changes over the past year

Largest percentage of companies expanding office size since Autumn 2020
As for changes in office size over the past
year, the percentage of companies that
expanded their office size was 7.1%, whilethat of companies that downsized was 7.4%
(Figure 2 (red frame)).

Figure 2: Change in Office Size

Although “downsized” continues to outweigh“expanded,” the gap is shrinking.

6© Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

1.1. Changes over the past year

“Relocation” the most popular style for both expansion and downsizing of office
The most popular style of office size
expansion was “Relocation” (42.3%), followedby “Expansion in same building” (30.9%)(Figure 3).

Figure 3: Style of Office Expansion

Figure 4: Style of Office Downsizing

The most popular style of office size
downsizing was “Relocation” (49.6%) (Figure
4).

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1.1. Changes over the past year

Top reason for office expansion: Increase in office occupants & people coming to the office
The top reason for office size expansion was“Increase in number of people” (63.4%) (Figure 5).
This reason had been declining since thepandemic but turned upward this time.

Figure 5: Reason for Office Size Expansion

The factors for the rise include the rise in thepercentage of companies with an increase in thenumber of office occupants*1, as per Figure 1, andan increase in the number of people coming to theoffice.*2 In this survey, we also asked about thechange in the number of people coming to theoffice over the past year. 33.5% of companies
replied that the number “increased,” exceeding thepercentage of “decreased” (9.3%).
This result suggests that, with the transition of
COVID-19 to a Class 5 infectious disease in May ofthis year, a certain number of workers are returning
to the office from teleworking, affecting officedemand.
*1 The number of people belonging to the office,regardless of whether they come to the office or not)*2 The average number of people coming to the office atthe time of the survey

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1.1. Changes over the past year

Top reason for office downsizing: “Less space needed due to telework”
The top reasons for office downsizing were“Less space needed due to telework” (59.8%)
and “To cut office costs” (45.7%) (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Reason for Office Downsizing

However, the percentages of these two
reasons have decreased compared to the
Spring 2022 survey.

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1.1. Changes over the past year

Expansion (actual + potential) overtaking downsizing when including potential expansion
Even if office size was unchanged over the
past year, when we add the percentage of“Considering expansion” and that of“Considered but canceled or suspended” asthe percentage of “Potential expansion,” thetotal “Expansion (actual + potential)” comes to
12.5%, which has been rising since theSpring 2021 survey (Figure 7).

Figure 7: Actual + Potential Change in Office Size over the Past Year

Similarly, the total “Downsizing (actual +potential)” comes to 10.8%, declining since
Spring 2021.
Although downsizing exceeded expansion in
actual performance (Figure 2), expansion
overtook downsizing in this survey when
adding potential expansion. The downsizing
trend that has continued since the COVID-19
pandemic appears to have subsided.
Downsizing is also characterized by a greaterfluctuation in the percentage of “potential”
than expansion (especially during
recessionary periods). It can be inferred thatquite a few companies felt the need todownsize, but it did not materialize.

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1.1. Changes over the past year

Rent per tsubo increase at 14.7% of companies, significantly more than a decrease
As for changes in rent per tsubo, 14.7% ofcompanies saw an increase, outweighing
companies that saw a decrease (2.5%)(Figure 8 (red frame)).

Figure 8: Change in Rent per Tsubo

Although there have been reports indicating
concerns over office demand in city centers
since the COVID-19 pandemic, demandseems to be recovering as the pandemic
abates.

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1.1. Changes over the past year

Rent per tsubo increase at approx. 38% of companies that expanded office size
In terms of change in rent per tsubo bychange in office size, the percentage ofcompanies that expanded their office size that
saw a rent increase (38.2%) rose from theprevious survey (Figure 9).

Figure 9: Change in Rent per Tsubo – By Change in Office Size

12
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1.2. Future intentions

13.2 pt rise in expectation of increase in office occupants compared to Spring 2020
35.4% of the companies replied that the
number of office occupants* of their current
office will increase in 1–2 years, while 4.6%
replied it will decrease (Figure 10).

Figure 10: Future Number of Office Occupants

In Spring 2020, immediately after the outbreakof the pandemic, the percentages of “Willincrease” and “Will decrease” were even at the
22% level. “Will increase” subsequently roseevery year and significantly exceeded the “Willdecrease” percentage this time.
Similarly, as for companies’ intentions toward
their office size 2–3 years ahead, “Want toexpand” (15.6%) outweighed “Want todownsize” (6.3%) (Figure 11).

Figure 11: Future Change in Office Size

However, the results of surveys since Spring2020 show that the growth of the percentage of“Want to expand” is not as much as that of thepercentage of an expected increase in officeoccupants. This implies that an increase in
office occupants may not directly lead to an
expansion in office size due to the spread oftelework, etc.
*The number of people belonging to the office,regardless of whether they come to the office or not)13
© Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

1.2. Future intentions

Greater intention to expand than to downsize irrespective of office location or company size
Here, we compare companies’ intentions
toward office size by company attributes.

Figure 12: Future Change in Office Size – By Office Location

By office location, the percentage of “Want toexpand” was more than double that of “Wantto downsize” in all company groups (Figure12). Although Tokyo 23 Wards had a slightly
higher percentage of “Want to downsize” thanother cities, there was no significant
difference by office location.
Similarly, the percentage of “Want to expand”
was larger than that of “Want to downsize” inall company groups by number of employees(Figure 13).

Figure 13: Future Change in Office Size – By Number of Employees

The percentage of “Want to downsize” halved
at large companies with more than 1,000
employees compared to the results of theSpring 2022 survey (15.0% in Spring 2022),
resulting in an increase in the percentage of“Want to expand” (9.8% in Spring 2022).

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1.2. Future intentions

More than 30% of information and communications companies want to expand or downsize
By sector, “Want to expand” outweighed“Want to downsize” in all sectors (Figure 14).

Figure 14: Future Change in Office Size – By Sector

The information and communications sector
showed larger percentages of both “Want toexpand” (21.6%) and “Want to downsize”(8.9%) than other sectors, indicating that
more than 30% of companies in the sector
wish to change their office size in some way.

15
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1.2. Future intentions“Relocation” most popular style; “expansion in same building” declining
The most popular style among companies
that wanted to expand their office size was“Relocation” (46.5%) (Figure 15).

Figure 15: Style of Intention to Expand

Figure 16: Style of Intention to Downsize

The most popular style for office downsizing
was also “Relocation” (55.0%) (Figure 16).
Compared to previous surveys, thepercentages of “Expansion in same building”(32.0%) and “Downsizing in same building”(23.9%) have been decreasing every year.
This suggests a rising need to change thelocation or property specifications by
relocating, both for office expansion anddownsizing.

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1.2. Future intentions“Not enough meeting rooms” top reason for wanting to expand, rising every year
The top reason for wanting to expand was“Not enough meeting rooms” (53.2%),
outstripping “Increase in number of people”(52.0%), the top reason in the Spring 2022
survey, by a small margin (Figure 17).

Figure 17: Reason for Intention to Expand

The percentage of “Not enough meetingrooms” has been rising every year since theSpring 2019 survey, which was before the
COVID-19 pandemic. This is probably due tocompanies requiring facilities that meet newneeds for increasing face-to-facecommunication opportunities, such as
meetings, when employees come to the officeon the back of the spread of hybrid work.
Other top reasons include “To improve the
comfort of the office environment” (50.6%),“To accommodate personnel increase due tofuture intensified hiring” (48.3%), and “To
motivate employees” (28.6%).

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1.2. Future intentions“To cut office costs” and “Less space needed due to telework” top reasons for wanting todownsize
The top reason for wanting to downsize was“To cut office costs” (51.4%). However, its
percentage dropped by more than 10 pt fromprevious surveys (Figure 18).

Figure 18: Reason for Intention to Downsize

The second most popular reason, “Lessspace needed due to telework” (50.5%), also
saw the lowest percentage since the Spring2020 survey. This is probably because thereduction and streamlining of office space in
response to the adoption of telework havealready been implemented more than three
years after the outbreak of the pandemic.
The new reason added from this survey, “Torelocate to a building with better location andquality,” amounted to 20.2%, suggesting thatsome companies consider offices not as acost to be cut but as an investment. As thenecessary amount of space will be able to be
reduced due to hybrid work, relocating to ahigher quality office while keeping rent
payments down may gain support.

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2. Factors That Affect Office Demand
1. Coming-to-office ratio
2. Percentage of desks, impression of size, business sentiment

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2.1. Coming-to-office ratio

Intentions to continue implementing telework after end of pandemic at 74.4% of companies
With a 100% coming-to-office ratio being all
employees coming to the office, we asked
companies’ “current average coming-to-officeratio (actual)” and “future coming-to-officeratio (intention)” (Figure 19).

Figure 19: Coming-to-office Ratio (Actual and Intention)

Regarding the actual ratio, while 25.7% of thecompanies had 100% (come to office fulltime), 20% kept their ratio at less than 40%.
The average* ratio was 70.7%.
Regarding future intentions, 25.6% of thecompanies replied 100% (come to office fulltime), while the remaining 74.4% intended tocontinue implementing telework. The average
was 71.3%, which is not significantly different
from the average actual ratio.
11.4% of all companies (n=1,722) chose“Leave to employees; Will not set specific,” achoice added from this survey.
*The average figure was calculated from themedian figure of the range of each choice: 5% for“1%–9%,” 14.5% for “10%–19%,” 24.5% for “20%–29%,” etc.

20
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2.1. Coming-to-office ratio“100% coming-to-office ratio (come to office full time)” at 25.7%, highest since the pandemic
We divided the coming-to-office ratio (actual
and intention) of Figure 19 into five levels: 0%(telework full time), 1%–39% (telework), 40%–59% (roughly equal), 60%–99% (come tooffice), and 100% (come to office full time), andcompared the results with previous surveys(Figure 20).

Figure 20: Actual and Intended Coming-to-Office Ratio (Comparison over Time)

Regarding the actual ratio, “100% (come tooffice full time),” which had remained around
20% since Autumn 2020, rose to 25.7%, thehighest since the pandemic. There appears to
be a trend among some companies to have
employees return to the office from teleworking
following the abatement of the pandemic.
In future intentions, however, the percentage of“100% (come to office full time)” (25.6%) has
not increased from previous surveys,
suggesting that a certain number of companies
will continue adopting hybrid work after the endof the pandemic.
The gap between actual and intention has
shrunk compared to previous surveys,
indicating that reality is approaching intentions
ahead of the end of the pandemic.

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2.1. Coming-to-office ratio

Prominent increase in coming-to-office ratio outside Tokyo; intentions to continue
adopting hybrid work at a certain number of companies
By office location, “100% (come to office full time)” is relatively uncommon in Tokyo 23 Wards for both actual and intention at less than 20%, indicating that telework ismore widespread than in other cities (Figure 21). Compared to Spring 2022, the rise of “100% (come to office full time)” (actual) is prominent in Osaka, Nagoya, andFukuoka, indicating that employees are returning to the office in those cities.
Even in these three cities, however, only 30–40% of companies intend to have their employees come to the office full time, with the remaining 60%–70% intending toembrace telework to some extent. Most of these companies, except those that chose “0% (telework full time),” will adopt hybrid work, which combines coming to theoffice and teleworking, suggesting that hybrid work will become a common choice irrespective of region.

Figure 21: Actual (Left) and Intended (Right) Coming-to-office Ratio – By Office Location

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2.1. Coming-to-office ratio

Intentions to continue implementing telework at approx. 70% of SMEs
By the number of employees, while the actual percentage of “100% (come to office full time)” was more than 20% among small and medium-sized companies (“Lessthan 100 employees” and “100–999 employees”), the results indicate that telework has become widespread regardless of the size of the company (Figure 22).
Regarding future intentions, 70%–90% of companies of all sizes intend to implement telework.

Figure 22: Actual (Left) and Intended (Right) Coming-to-office Ratio – By Number of Employees

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2.1. Coming-to-office ratio

Large percentage of “Come to office full time” in wholesale and retail trade andconstruction sectors; intentions to continue hybrid work at a certain number of companies
By sector, while the actual and intended percentages of “100% (come to office full time)” were relatively high in the ”Wholesale and retail trade” and “Construction”
sectors, a certain number of companies implement telework in every sector and intend to continue adopting hybrid work (Figure 23).

Figure 23: Actual (Left) and Intended (Right) Coming-to-office Ratio – By Sector

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2.2. Percentage of desks, impression of size, business sentiment

Desired percentage of desks to office occupants: Less than 100% at 40% of companies
We calculated the actual percentage of desksthat companies provided for their officeoccupants based on the numbers of officeoccupants and desks at the time of the survey
and the intended percentage of desks to
the number of office occupants in the future,and grouped the results into “Less than
100%,” “100%,” and “More than 100%”(Figure 24).

Figure 24: Percentage of Desks to Number of Office Occupants (Actual and Intention)

Regarding the actual percentage, desks for“more than 100%” of office occupants werethe most common (51.6% of companies).
As for the intended percentage, thepercentage of “More than 100%” halved to26.6%, while “Less than 100%” rose to 40.9%,
significantly higher than the actual percentage(21.5%).
An increasing number of companies are
reducing their number of desks as telework
spreads and takes root.

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2.2. Percentage of desks, impression of size, business sentiment

Office “Very small” or “Somewhat small” at more than 30% of companies
When we asked the respondents’ impressionof the size of their current office, 32.1%
replied their office was either “Very small” or“Somewhat small,” while 15.6% felt it was“Very large” or “Somewhat large” (Figure 25).

Figure 25: Impression of Office Size

The sum of “Very small” and “Somewhat
small” has increased from a year ago.
As mentioned earlier, this was likely affectedby factors such as the rise in the percentage
of companies with an increase in the numberof people coming to the office over the past
year (P.8) and the marginal increase in the
coming-to-office ratio (P.21).

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2.2. Percentage of desks, impression of size, business sentiment

Positive business sentiment DI for first time since COVID-19 pandemic
Figure 26 shows the “business sentiment DI,”
which is the sum of the percentages of“Good” and “Somewhat good” businesssentiments (for own company) minus that ofthe percentages of “Bad” and “Somewhat
bad” sentiments based on a five-scale ratingof “Good,” “Somewhat good,” “Neither goodnor bad,” “Somewhat bad,” and “Bad.”

Figure 26: Business Sentiment

In this survey, the sum of the percentages of“Good” and “Somewhat good” was 29.4%,
and that of “Bad” and “Somewhat bad” was
23.9%.
The business sentiment DI was 5.5, turning
positive for the first time since fallingsignificantly negative in the Spring 2020
survey, which immediately followed the
pandemic outbreak.

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3．Work Styles and the Workplace
1. Usage and comfort of the main office
2. Work styles and telework
3. Current issues; evaluation compared to before the pandemic
4. Values about the workplace

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3.1. Usage and comfort of the main office“Booth or private room for remote meetings” most desired in the office
Figure 27 shows the existing and desired
flexible space in companies’ offices. The top
replies for existing space (left side of thechart) were “Open meeting space” (56.2%)
and “Booth or private room for remotemeetings” (41.1%).

Figure 27: Existing Flexible Space in the Office (Left) and Desired Flexible Space (Right)

Regarding the desired flexible space (rightside of the chart), the most popular was“Booth or private room for remote meetings”(29.1%). As companies transition to a hybrid
model, which combines coming to the officeand teleworking, there seems to be a risingneed for this kind of space to accommodate
an increasing number of remote meetings
when employees are in the office.

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3.1. Usage and comfort of the main office“Psychological comfort” in offices at only 19.2% of companies
We asked companies to rate the comfort level of
Figure 28: Comfort Rating of the Main Office
their current main office on a 7-point scale from 0 to
6 based on Figure 28’s pyramid chart.*1 Only
19.2% of the companies rated 5 and 6 points,
which meet “psychological comfort,” the top level.

The volume zone was 3 and 4 points (63.3%),
which meet “functional comfort.”
With the coming-to-office ratio on a slight uptrend
as the pandemic subsides, office comfort is
expected to affect productivity and engagement
when employees come to the office. Overseas
experts have pointed out Japanese companies’
lack of interest in the psychological comfort in
offices.*2 Going forward, not only the minimum
functionality and safety but also a high level ofcomfort may become required of offices in Japan.
*1 Created by Xymax REI based on a pyramid modelfor environmental comfort developed by Dr. Jacqueline
Vischer of the University of Montreal. A chart with equal
proportions of the three levels was presented in thesurvey.
*2 Reference article (Japanese only): [WORKTREND㉖] Global: New Workplace Trends at an Inflection Point
https://soken.xymax.co.jp/hatarakikataoffice/viewpoint/wo
rktrend/column27.html

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3.2. Work styles and telework

Growth in “Supporting recurrent education” and “Allowing side jobs” from a year ago
Figure 29 shows the initiatives on work styles
that companies are implementing, regardless ofwhether the initiatives accommodate all or someof the target persons.

Figure 29: Initiatives on Work Styles

Top replies include “Paperless documents andbooks” (49.2%) and “Developing/adopting a
flextime program” (37.7%).
Compared to the Spring 2022 survey, growth
was prominent in “Supporting employees’ skill
improvement, self-learning, and recurrent
education” (up 10.9 pt) and “Allowing side jobs”(up 7.8 pt). The percentage of “Addressingchanges to work due to AI (e.g., ChatGPT),” a
new choice added from this survey, was 11.0%.
For reference, as for initiatives companies
wanted to implement in the future, the following
had higher percentages than the actual
implementation rate: “Addressing changes towork due to AI (e.g., ChatGPT),”“Developing/adopting a workation system thatenables working from remote places, e.g., thecountryside, abroad,” and “Developing/adopting
a 4-day workweek.” These initiatives may
become widespread in the future.

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3.2. Work styles and telework

Decline in availability of work-from-home policy; rise in availability of satellite offices
Figure 30 shows the trend of the availability ofa “Work-from-home policy” and a “Satellite
office” (both or either of the following: “Usinga satellite office, etc. provided by aspecialized operator, etc.” or “Establishing asatellite office, etc. owned or rented by own
company”) as an initiative on the place/policy
for telework.

Figure 30: Availability of Work-from-home Policy and Satellite Office

The availability of the work-from-home policy
has been declining after peaking in the Spring
2021 survey, reaching 45.6% this time.
On the other hand, the availability of satellite
offices has been rising every year, this time to
30.3%.
For reference, 58.9% of all companies haveintroduced at least a “Work-from-home policy”
or a “Satellite office” (i.e., a place/policy for
telework is available).

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3.2. Work styles and telework

Satellite office availability at 37.3% in Tokyo 23 Wards and steadily growing in regional cities
Figure 31 shows the trend of the availability ofa “Work-from-home policy” and a “Satellite
office” by office location from the Spring 2020
survey.

Figure 31: Availability of Work-from-home Policy and Satellite Office – By Office Location

The availability of a satellite office reached37.3% in the Tokyo 23 Wards at asignificantly larger growth rate than in other
cities. This is likely due to the concentration oflocations of satellite office services provided
by specialized operators in central Tokyo.
However, the availability rate has been
increasing every year in other cities,
suggesting a rise in need regardless of theregion.

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3.2. Work styles and telework

Satellite office availability at 50%+ and growing every year among large companies
By number of employees, companies withmore employees tend to have higher
availability rates of both a work-from-homepolicy and satellite offices (Figure 32).

Figure 32: Availability of Work-from-home Policy and Satellite Office – By Number of Employees

Compared to previous surveys, theavailability of a work-from-home policy isdeclining in small and medium-sizedcompanies (companies with less than 100
and 100–999 employees). It showed flat
growth from the Spring 2022 survey at large
companies (companies with 1,000 or more
employees). As shown in Figure 22, thecoming-to-office ratio is still relatively low atlarge companies, with more than 80% of thecompanies intending to continue adopting
hybrid work. Working from home is expected
to remain in high need.
The availability of satellite offices grewsignificantly at large companies, by 12.4 pt
over the past year to 54.3%. It has also risen
steadily every year in small and mediumsized companies with a large population,
indicating that the use of satellite offices has
been spreading regardless of company size.
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3.2. Work styles and telework

Steady rise in satellite office availability in all sectors
The availability of satellite offices has been increasing in all sectors (Figure 34).
The growth was especially large in the “Information and Communications” sector (up 11.0 pt) and the “Services, n.e.c.” sector (up 6.8 pt).

Figure 33: Availability of Work-from-home Policy – By Sector

Figure 34: Availability of Satellite Office – By Sector

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3.2. Work styles and telework

33.0% of companies want to introduce a satellite office
Figure 35 shows the initiative concerning theplace or policy for telework that companies
want to implement going forward (about 1 to 2
years from now), regardless of the current
situation.

Figure 35: Initiatives Concerning the Place or Policy for Telework Companies Want to Implement

Compared to previous surveys, the workfrom-home policy (38.3%) dropped, whilesatellite offices (33.0%) rose slightly.
As telework becomes widespread and takes
root in companies, satellite offices appear to
be rising in presence as a means of the work
style.

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3.3. Current issues; evaluation compared to before the pandemic

Top current issue: “Not enough meeting rooms or private rooms for remote meetings”
Figure 36 shows the current issues
concerning work styles companies face. The
top reply was “None in particular; Don’t know”(40.0%).

Figure 36: Current Issues Concerning Work Styles

The most popular among individual issues
was “Not enough meeting rooms or privaterooms for remote meetings” (35.3%).
As shown in Figure 27, the most desired
flexible space was “Booth or private room forremote meetings.” This indicates a situation
where conventional office functions alone are
no longer sufficient as companies transition toa hybrid model, which combines coming tothe office and teleworking, resulting in an
increase in employees’ opportunities toparticipate in remote meetings when theycome to the office.
On the other hand, the percentages of “Notenough desks or space due to more people
returning to the office” (9.7%) and “Struggling
to have more employees return to the office”(4.1%) remained in single digits.

37© Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

3.3. Current issues; evaluation compared to before the pandemic

Increase in percentage of employee performance improvement from before the pandemic
We asked companies to evaluate their“Employee performance,” “Employee wellbeing,” and “Personnel acquisition (new hiring,turnover reduction)” compared to before thepandemic. ”Unchanged” was the majority
reply (Figure 37).

Figure 37: Current Evaluation Compared to Before COVID-19 Pandemic

For “Employee performance” and “Employee
well-being,” “Improved*1” outweighed“Declined*2.”
Figure 38 shows the results of companies’
evaluation of “Employee performance”
compared to previous surveys.
In the Spring 2023 survey, “Improved” was
17.3%, while “Declined” was 11.0%. The
percentage of “Improved” has been rising
every year, indicating a rise in evaluation.
This is likely to be related to the fact thatcompanies that introduced telework due tothe pandemic have improved the work
environment, and the new work style hastaken root.

Figure 38: Current “Employee Performance” Evaluation Compared to Before COVID-19 Pandemic(Comparison over Time)*1 Sum of “Improved” and “Improved somewhat”*2 Sum of “Declined” and “Declined somewhat”

38© Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

3.3. Current issues; evaluation compared to before the pandemic

Office comfort, availability of place/policy to telework, and employee performance correlation
When comparing the evaluations in Figure 37 by the office comfort rating (Figure 28), the higher the comfort rating score, the larger the sum of “Improved” and thesmaller the sum of “Declined” for all three indicators (Figure 39). Similarly, when comparing the group with a place/policy for telework (Figure 30) and the group
without, the group with a place/policy for telework tended to have a larger sum of “Improved” for all three indicators (Figure 40).
These results imply that providing a workplace both at the main office and a telework location may positively correlate with the company’s outcome (the final desired
result).

Figure 39: Current Evaluation Compared to Before Pandemic– By Office Comfort Rating

Figure 40: Current Evaluation Compared to Before Pandemic– By Availability of Place/Policy for Telework

39© Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

3.4. Values about the workplace

Safety/security-related features most required in building. Also new value standards.
When we asked companies the features they
preferred to have in the building for their main
office, the top replies were features related tobasic safety and security, such as “Highsecurity performance” (58.5%), “Goodcleaning, sanitation, and maintenance ofbuilding” (57.9%), and “High seismic capacity(e.g., new standards, seismic
isolation/control)” (56.4%) (Figure 41).

Figure 41: Desired Features in the Building of the Main OfficeAlso, although the percentages were not high,relatively new value standards such as“Natural light” (36.2%), “Shared workplace(e.g., shared office) within building” (16.4%),“Smart technology (e.g., contactless)”(13.1%), and “Environmental and/or wellness
certification” (9.8%) gained a certain degreeof support, suggesting that the values
required in office buildings are becoming
diversified.

40© Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

3.4. Values about the workplace

Satellite office market expands: Which type do companies want their employees to use?
The spread of telework has resulted in agreater significance of satellite offices as aworkplace option other than the home. As awider variety of satellite offices become
available with the rising momentum of themarket, which satellite office do companies’
office managers want their employees touse?
We asked about their interest in using thefollowing five major types of satellite offices
after the end of the pandemic. The result ison the next page.

① Close to home:
Intensive solowork type

✓ Walking / biking distance from employees’ homes, enabling commutetime reduction✓ Has private rooms for one person suited for intensive work and wherephone calls and online meetings are also possible✓ Has multifunctional copiers and lounge space, allowing employees toengage in a full day of work
✓ Offers features supporting a better balance with employees’ private
lives, e.g., nursery services, locations within retail properties where
shopping can be done easily③ Any
duration, any
location:
Project site
type
✓ Has exclusive sections, suitable for system development or
fixed-term projects✓ Can be located where it is convenient for the project, such aswhere it is easy for project members to commute or near theclient✓ Has private rooms or meeting spaces suitable for working or
holding meetings with multiple persons✓ Easy to work with people not only within the company but also
from outside the company④ Encountersand stimulation:
City-centercollaboration
type✓ Located in areas with brand value or character, mainly in city
centers (e.g., IT companies in Shibuya, financial companies
in Marunouchi)✓ Shared by people from various industries and professions,offering opportunities for collaboration or innovation✓ Features open spaces with attention to comfort and design✓ Also offers plenty of intangible services, such as food anddrink, events, and community-building opportunities② Efficient travel:
City-center
touchdown type

✓ Multiple offices provided in major city-center office areas✓ Used mainly by sales representatives dropping in between client visits
or on days when they go directly to their clients and return home
directly, enabling a reduction of travel time
✓ Offers a choice of office location that suits the employee’s schedule ofthe day and allows drop-in use even for a short time
✓ Has private rooms and booths suited for individual work, as well assoundproof booths for phone calls and online meetings⑤ Workation incountryside andmulti-location
residency type
✓ Located in the lush countryside, enabling work-life balance✓ Enables working close to home, as it allows users to work forcompanies in urban centers while living in the countryside either
temporarily or for the long term
✓ Sometimes shared by multiple companies, offering opportunities
for cross-industry exchanges and exchanges with the local
community

41© Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

3.4. Values about the workplace

15-point rise in interest in “Project site type”
We asked companies to rate their interest in
using each of the five types on a five-point
scale. For all types, more than 40% of thecompanies replied that they either “Want touse (Already using)” or “Want to use
somewhat” (Figure 42).

Figure 42: Interest in Using the Five Satellite Office Types

In particular, “① Close to home: Intensivesolo-work type” (the sum of “Want to use(Already using)” and “Want to use
somewhat:” 63.0%) and “② Efficient travel:
City-center touchdown type” (62.8%) were
popular, interest in both growing by nearly 10
pt from the Autumn 2020 survey when thesame question was asked.
All types saw an increase in interest from theAutumn 2020 survey. In particular, “③ Any
duration and any location: Project site type”
rose significantly by 15.3 pt, indicating an
increase in demand. “⑤ Workation incountryside and multi-location residency type”
also rose by 8.2 pt.

42© Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.