Xymax Real Estate Institute

RESEARCH REPORT

Metropolitan Areas
Autumn 2019

OfficeDemandSurveyExpansion of workstyle reforms and changes in office demand

November 27, 2019

In the past several years, companies have been promoting workstyle reforms aimed at acquiring personnel
and improving productivity, with more companies shifting from the conventional, inflexible workstyle to one
that is not constrained by place or time. These trends are likely to have quantitative and qualitative effects on
office demand.
Since autumn 2016, Xymax Real Estate Institute (hereinafter, “Xymax REI”) has been conducting surveys oncompanies’ use of offices and workstyles on a semi-annual basis and has continuously analyzed theirrelationship between office demand. This report covers the results of the seventh survey.

Summary of Survey Results
1.

(1 tsubo=approx. 3.3 sqm)

Change in office demand (October 2018–September 2019) (Pages 3–6)

36.5% of the companies experienced an increase in the number of office users over the
past year, outnumbering the companies that experienced a decrease (13.0%). 8.7% of thecompanies expanded their office space, while 2.8% reduced it. Furthermore, thepercentage of companies that experienced an increase in their rent per tsubo (includingCAM) (22.6%) exceeded that of companies experiencing a decrease (1.2%), and has risen
since the start of the survey. These results indicate that office demand was robust. (Figures
1, 2, and 3)

39.1% of the companies thought their current office was not large enough.

Business confidence DI was the lowest ever at 3.1: the percentage of companies replying thatbusiness confidence was “bad” or “somewhat bad” has increased.

2.

As much as around 70% of the companies felt they were “lacking” or “somewhat lacking” in labor.
Promoting workstyle reforms (Pages 7–10)

Companies replying that they were “currently promoting workstyle reforms” or had“already carried out” the reforms accounted for 62.6% in total. When including companies
that were “planning or considering” the reforms, more than 70% of the companies either
will promote or have promoted the reforms. (Figure 7)
When comparing the purpose of carrying out workstyle reforms with past surveys, “shortening longwork hours (overtime, extra workdays)” (60.2%) and “promoting the well-being of employees”(47.8%) ranked higher than in the past.



Around 60% of the companies replied that they felt the effects of workstyle reforms “very much” or“somewhat.”

3.

Diversification of workplaces (promoting telework) (Pages 11–23)

Around 80% of the companies had introduced some kind of telework. More companies
are providing places or programs for telework, indicating that efforts to provide
alternative workplaces are progressing. (Figures 11, 14, and 15)33.2% of the companies replied that they were making efforts to provide places or programs for

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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RESEARCH REPORT｜ Xymax Real Estate Institutetelework. “Work-from-home program” (21.8%) was the most popular reply, followed by “serviced
office” (15.1%), which doubled in terms of the rate of companies introducing the program
compared to a year ago, indicating that workplaces are becoming more diversified.


By company size, telework was being promoted the most at large companies (with 1,000
employees or more). “Serviced office or shared office” increased in all company sizes. By industry,
places for telework were being provided in a broad range of industries, with “serviced office orshared office” and “company’s satellite office, etc.” showing especially large growth in the financeand insurance industries.

Companies interested establishing/using programs that enable telework accounted for around
80% (77.4%).

Companies that had introduced places or programs for telework such as a “work-from-homeprogram” and “serviced office or shared office” had a smaller office space per person thancompanies that had not introduced such places or programs.

Companies that focused on health & productivity management and well-being placed more
importance on “supporting employees’ balance of work and child/elder care” and “improving
employees’ work-life balance” and had actually introduced telework more than companies that did
not focus on health & productivity management and well-being.

4.

Topic: Measures to counter traffic congestion during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics andParalympics Games (Pages 24–25)

Among companies with offices in Tokyo, only a little less than 40% (38.2%) will carry out
some kind of measure, while more than 60% have not decided on a specific measure (“willthink of a measure in the future,” “not yet decided / don’t know”) or “do not plan to take any
measures.” (Figure 27)

Related surveys:
・Autumn 2016 (1st survey) Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey 2016 – Demand Trends, published January 12, 2017https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20170112.pdf
・Autumn 2016 (1st survey) Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey 2016 – New Ways of Working and Office, published January 30, 2017https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20170130.pdf
・Spring 2017 (2nd survey) Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey 2017 – Demand Trends, published August 2, 2017https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20170802_2.pdf
・Autumn 2017 (3rd survey) Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2017, published December 7, 2017https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20171207.pdf
・Spring 2018 (4th survey) Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2018, published July 3, 2018https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20180703.pdf
・Autumn 2018 (5th survey) Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2018, published December 18, 2018https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20181218.pdf
・Spring 2019 (6th survey) Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2019, published June 26, 2019https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20190626.pdf

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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1. Change in office demand (October 2018–September 2019)
1-1.

Changes in the number of office users, size of office, rent per tsubo (incl. CAM charges)More companies experienced an increase in office users (36.5%) than a decrease (13.0%).

More companies expanded their office space (8.7%) than reducing (2.8%).

More companies experienced a rise in rent per tsubo (incl. CAM charges) (22.6%) than a decline(1.2%).

The changes in the number of office users, office size, and rent per tsubo (including CAM charges; the same
applies hereafter) over the past year (October 2018–September 2019) were as below.
The percentage of companies that experienced an increase in the number of office users far exceeded that ofcompanies that experienced a decrease by 23.5 percentage points (Figure 1, bottom bar). Furthermore, thepercentage of companies that expanded their office space surpassed that of companies that reduced it by 5.9
percentage points (Figure 2, bottom bar). The percentage of companies that saw an increase in rent per tsubo
exceeded that of companies that saw a decrease by 21.4 percentage points (Figure 3, bottom bar).
This trend has been largely consistent with the past six surveys (Autumn 2016, Spring 2017, Autumn 2017,
Spring 2018, Autumn 2018, Spring 2019), with the percentage of companies experiencing a rise in rent per
tsubo increasing significantly compared to the survey in Autumn 2016, the first round of the survey, indicatingthat demand continues to be robust. Such growth in companies’ demand is thought to have led to the tightsupply-demand balance in offices in metropolitan areas.
Figure 1: Change in the Number of Office Users

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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Figure 2: Change in Office Size

Figure 3: Change in Rent per Tsubo

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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1-2.

Impression of office size, business confidence, sense of labor shortage

Around 40% of the companies felt that their current office was “very small” or “somewhat small.”

While the business confidence among 30.1% of the companies was either “good” or “somewhat
good,” 27.0% of the companies replied that it was “bad” or “somewhat bad.”As much as around 70% of the companies felt that they were “lacking” or “somewhat lacking” inlabor.

When we asked how the companies felt about their current office size, 39.1% replied that they felt theircurrent office was “very small” or “somewhat small” (Figure 4). The percentage exceeded that of thecompanies that felt their office was “very large” or “somewhat large” (12.9%), indicating a potential need for
expanding office space, which has continued since the Autumn 2016 survey. When looking at the results ofthe past six surveys, the percentage of companies that felt their office was small increased over Autumn 2017
to Spring 2018 and has since remained flat.
Figure 4: Impression of Office Size

As for business confidence, the “Business Confidence DI” is presented in Figure 5 as the difference between
the total percentage of “good” and “somewhat good” and that of “bad” and “somewhat bad.” In this survey,
while 30.1% of the companies replied that business confidence was “good” or “somewhat good,” 27.0% replied
it was “bad” or “somewhat bad.” The DI at 3.1 is the lowest since the start of this survey, indicating that business
confidence is deteriorating.

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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Figure 5: Business Confidence DI

As for the sense of labor shortage, while 4.3% of the companies replied that labor was “abundant” or“somewhat abundant,” 67.6% replied that they were “lacking” or “somewhat lacking” in labor, far outstripping
companies that felt that labor was abundant (Figure 6). These results point to an acute sense of labor shortage
among companies.
Figure 6: Sense of Labor Shortage

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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2. Promoting workstyle reforms
2-1.

Promoting workstyle reforms



62.6% of the companies replied that they were “currently promoting workstyle reforms” or had“already carried out workstyle reforms.”When comparing the purpose of carrying out workstyle reforms with past surveys, “shortening longwork hours (i.e. overtime, extra workdays)” (60.2%) and “promoting well-being of employees”(47.8%) ranked higher than in the past.



Around 60% of the companies replied that they felt the effects of workstyle reforms “very much” or“somewhat.”

As much as 44.6% of the companies replied that they were “currently promoting workstyle reforms.” The
percentage rises to 62.6% when including companies that have “already carried out” the reforms (Figure 7).
Compared to the Autumn 2018 survey, the percentage has risen by 21.1 points to the highest percentage ever.
12.2% of the companies replied that they were “planning/considering” the reforms. When including companies
that were “currently promoting workstyle reforms” and those that had “already carried out” the reforms, morethan 70% (74.8%) of the companies either will carry out or have carried out the reforms.
Figure 7: Implementation of Workstyle Reforms

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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As for the purpose of carrying out the reforms, “productivity improvement” (61.4%) was the most popular as
in the past (Figure 8). In this survey, “shortening long work hours (overtime, extra workdays),” which ranked
sixth in the Autumn 2018 survey, rose by 7.5 percentage points to rank second (60.2%), followed by “greater
employee satisfaction” (57.2%). “Promoting well-being of employees” (47.8%) has been rising, which suggeststhat companies are becoming more health-conscious in the work environment.
Figure 8: Purpose of Workstyle Reforms

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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RESEARCH REPORT｜ Xymax Real Estate InstituteWe asked companies that had “already carried out” or were “currently promoting” workstyle reforms about
the effect of the reforms (Figure 9). As much as approximately 60% (64.2%) of the companies replied that theyfelt an effect “very much” or “somewhat,” although the ratio was 6.5 percentage points lower than in the
Autumn 2018 survey.
Figure 9: Whether Companies Feel the Effects of Workstyle Reforms

As for the specific effects, the top replies included “shortened long work hours (overtime, extra workdays)”(43.4%) and “improved employees’ work-life balance” (31.9%) (Figure 10). With regard to “shortened longwork hours (overtime, extra workdays),” companies seem to feel an effect more in this matter than in othermatters as many companies carry out workstyle reforms for this purpose, as shown in Figure 8. On the other
hand, the percentage of companies feeling an effect in “improved employees’ work-life balance” hascontinuously dropped since the Autumn 2017 survey.
Compared to the Autumn 2018 survey, while more companies are carrying out workstyle reforms (Figure 7),
the overall percentages of companies feeling the effects of the reforms and of the specific effects of thereforms have dropped. Since workstyle reform laws have been enforced since spring 2019, many companies
have started off by focusing on shortening long work hours. However, due to the very fact that morecompanies are introducing workstyle reforms, expectations toward the results of the reforms may have risen,
preventing companies from feeling the effects of the reforms from moderate changes.

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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Figure 10: Specific Effects of Workstyle Reforms

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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3. Diversification of workplaces (promoting telework)
3-1. Initiatives in promoting telework

79.1% of the companies had introduced some kind of measure for employees to telework, such asproviding places or programs for mobile work or telework. 76.4% of the companies had made ICT
investments.



33.2% of the companies replied that they were making efforts to provide places or programs fortelework. “Work-from-home program” (21.8%) was introduced the most. “Serviced office, sharedoffice, etc. provided by a specialized operator” (15.1%) nearly doubled from a year ago, indicatingthat workplaces are becoming more diversified and dispersed.

Large companies with 1,000 employees or more and companies with offices in the Tokyo 23 Wards
were actively providing places or programs for telework. By industry, the finance and insurance
industries showed a large growth in using a “serviced office, shared office, etc. provided by aspecialized operator” and the establishment of “satellite office or other similar facility owned orleased by own company.”When we asked companies about their initiatives and degree of interest in workstyles, the mostpopular initiative was mobile work, with around 80% (77.4%) of the companies (including those thatare interested) likely to make efforts in establishing and utilizing a “system enabling telework (e.g.
attendance management, personnel evaluation)” at some point in the future.

Around 80% (79.1%) of all companies had introduced some kind of measure for employees to telework, suchas providing places or programs for mobile work or telework (Figure 11).

Figure 11: Whether Companies Have Introduced Telework

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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76.4% of all companies replied that they had introduced at least one of the following: a “system enabling
workers to check emails and schedules anywhere with a smartphone, mobile PC, etc.,” “providing employeeswith IT devices such as smartphones, mobile PCs and tablets to enable mobile work,” and a “system enabling
workers to work outside the office in the same network environment as the office with a smartphone, mobile
PC, etc.” This suggests that more than 70% of the companies had made some kind of ICT investment to achieve
efficient workstyles (Figure 12). Compared to the Autumn 2018 survey, the percentage has risen by 9.7 points.
As for the breakdown of ICT investment, the percentage of companies making investments increased in all
items (Figure 13).
Figure 12: Whether Companies Have Made ICT Investment to Support Telework

Figure 13: Breakdown of ICT Investment

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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RESEARCH REPORT｜ Xymax Real Estate InstituteFurthermore, 33.2% of all companies replied that they had provided a place or program for telework (Figure
14).
The program or place that was introduced the most was the “work-from-home program” (21.8%), while theprogram or place that saw the largest growth from Autumn 2018 was “serviced office or shared office provided
by a specialized operator” (15.1%), which nearly doubled. There is a certain number of companies that provided
a “satellite office or other similar facility owned or rented by own company” (10.1%), indicating that workplaces
are gradually becoming more diversified and dispersed (Figure 15).
Figure 14: Whether Companies Have Provided Places or Programs for Telework

Figure 15: Details of Place or Program for Telework

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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These initiatives vary depending on the company size (number of employees) and industry.
By company size, larger companies were more likely to offer places or programs for telework (Figure 16).
Compared to the Autumn 2018 survey, “serviced office or shared office” increased at all company sizes. Smalland medium-sized companies (companies with “less than 100 employees” and “100–999 employees”) saw
larger growths in “serviced office or shared office” and “satellite office or other similar facility owned or leasedby own company” than in the “work-from-home program,” suggesting that such places for telework arebecoming more available regardless of company size.
Figure 16: Availability of Place/Program for Telework – By Company Size (No. of Employees)

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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By location of office, companies with offices in the Tokyo 23 Wards tended to have a higher introduction rate
in all initiatives (Figure 17). The Tokyo 23 Wards also experienced a growth in the introduction rate from past
surveys, especially in “serviced office or shared office” and “satellite office or other similar facility owned orleased by own company” (Figure 18).
Figure 17: Availability of Place/Program for Telework – By Location of Office

Figure 18: Availability of Place/Program for Telework in Tokyo 23 Wards

By industry, places for telework were also being provided in a broad range of industries, with “serviced office,shared office, etc.” and “company’s satellite office, etc.” showing the largest growth in the finance andinsurance industries (Figure 19). The telecommunications industry saw a 12.8-point growth in “serviced office,shared office, etc.” from the Autumn 2018 survey.

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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Figure 19: Availability of Place/Program for Telework – By Industry

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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Figure 20 shows companies’ current initiatives and degree of interest in multiple strategies on workstyles.
The strategy that was introduced the most was mobile work such as a “system that enables workers to checkemails and schedules anywhere with a smartphone, mobile PC, etc.,” which was also the top reply when
including companies that planned to introduce the strategy in the future. This was followed by “supporting
employees’ skill improvement, self-learning, recurrent education” and “establishing/utilizing a flextime
program,” while around 80% (77.4%) of the companies either had introduced or were interested in a “systemthat enables telework (e.g. attendance management, personnel evaluation).” As much as 41.6% of thecompanies were interested in “carrying out an employee satisfaction (ES) survey” but had not introduced it yet.
Figure 20: Initiatives on Workstyles

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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PICK UP
Office Space per Person by Availability of Place/Program for Telework
A calculation of office space per person (median value) for each telework measure indicates that in all of
the measures, companies that had introduced the measure had a smaller office space per person thancompanies that had not introduced the measure (Figure 21).
The office space per person at companies that used a serviced or shared office was 2.80 tsubo (3.96
tsubo at companies that did not use such offices; 1 tsubo = 3.3 sqm), while that of companies that
introduced their own satellite office was 3.00 tsubo (3.90 tsubo for companies that did not introduce suchoffices), suggesting that the dispersion of workplaces may have contributed to greater efficiency in theconventional office space. If workstyles continue to become more flexible and diverse and employees’
workplaces become more dispersed, it may affect the use of fixed office space, such as head offices, as well
as office demand.
Figure 21: Office Space per Person by Availability of Place/Program for Telework (Median)Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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RESEARCH REPORT｜ Xymax Real Estate Institute3-2. Characteristics of companies focusing on health & productivity management and well-beingThe most popular theme focused on was “productivity improvement” (55.3%). Companies’ greatest
focus to achieve workstyles that lead to improved productivity was “greater work efficiency”(76.7%), while around half of the companies focused on “enhancing employees’ motivation”(50.4%) and “more active communication within the company” (49.3%).

Companies focusing on health & productivity management and well-being placed importance on“supporting employees’ balance of work and child/elder care” and “improving employees’ work-lifebalance” to achieve workstyles that lead to improved productivity more than companies that did
not focus on health & productivity management and well-being by more than 20 percentage
points.



As for the introduction of strategies on workstyles, companies that focused on health &productivity management and well-being actually introduced strategies more than companies that
did not focus on health & productivity management and well-being. There was a difference of 19.4
percentage points between the two types of companies in “establish/utilize a system that enables
telework (e.g. attendance management, personnel evaluation),” while the percentage of “introduce
a flexible office layout” at companies that focused on health & productivity management andwell-being was twice that of companies that did not focus on the matter.

Figure 22 shows the themes that companies were currently focusing on on a company-wide basis. The mostpopular theme was “productivity improvement” (55.3%), followed by “strengthening sales abilities” (50.5%),
which around half of the companies were focusing on. “Work reforms (cost reduction)” (39.8%), which ranked
third, is thought to be closely related to “productivity improvement,” which ranked top. 13.1% of the companies
focused on health & productivity management and well-being. As “promoting well-being of employees”
increased compared to past surveys as the purpose of carrying out workstyle reforms (Figure 8), companies’
awareness of a healthy work environment is expected to continue rising.
Figure 22: Theme Focusing on

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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As for companies’ major focus to achieve workstyles that lead to improved productivity, the top reply was“greater work efficiency” (76.7%) (Figure 23). Around half of the companies focused on “enhancing employees’
motivation” (50.4%) and “more active internal communication” (49.3%) to improve productivity.

Figure 23: Major Focuses to Achieve Workstyles that Lead to Improved Productivity

Here, we will examine the characteristics of companies that focus on “health & productivity management andwell-being,” which were indicated in Figure 22.
First of all, we studied whether there was a difference in the major focuses to achieve workstyles that lead to
improved productivity between companies that focused on health & productivity management and well-being
and companies that did not (Figure 24). The greatest differences were seen in “promoting well-being of
employees,” which had the largest difference (32.7 percentage points), “improving employees’ work-lifebalance” (23.9-point difference), “supporting employees’ balance of work and child/elder care,” (23.3-point
difference), “facilitating employees’ concentration” (19.6-point difference), and “flexible workplaces and work
hours” (16.7-point difference).

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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Figure 24: Major Initiatives by Focus on Health & Productivity Management and Well-being

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
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In terms of the difference in implementing initiatives on workstyles between companies focusing on health &productivity management and well-being and those that did not, there was an especially large difference of
19.4 percentage points in “establishing/utilizing a system enabling telework (e.g. attendance management,
personnel evaluation)” (Figure 25). Other initiatives that showed large differences were “introducing a flexible
office layout,” which showed a two-fold difference (11.8 percentage points), “establishing/utilizing awork-from-home program” (16-point difference), “using a serviced or shared office provided by a specialized
operator” (16.1-point difference), and “establishing/utilizing a flextime program” (12.6-point difference).
Figures 24 and 25 suggest that companies focusing on health & productivity management and well-being
tend to have greater awareness toward enabling employees to work flexibly and in good health, and actuallyoffer a diverse range of workstyles and workplaces more than companies that do not focus on the matter.
Figure 25: Initiatives in Workstyles by Focus on Health & Productivity Management and Well-being

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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RESEARCH REPORT｜ Xymax Real Estate Institute

3-3.

Concerns and obstacles in workstyle reforms or establishing a work environmentThe top reply was “unclear cost effectiveness,” which was chosen by around 40% (38.8%) of thecompanies. This was followed by “high information security risk” (30.6%), and “difficulty inmanaging employees” (30.4%).

In terms of the concerns or obstacles companies had in workstyle reforms or establishing a work
environment, the top reply was “unclear cost effectiveness,” which around 40% (38.8%) of the companies chose.
Around 30% of the companies felt “high information security risk” (30.6%) and “difficulty in managing
employees” (30.4%). These may pose challenges in providing flexibility in work hours and places (Figure 26).
Figure 26: Concerns and Obstacles in Workstyle Reforms or Establishing a Work Environment

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

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RESEARCH REPORT｜ Xymax Real Estate Institute

4. Topic: Measures to counter traffic congestion during the 2020
Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics Games
4-1.

Measures to counter traffic congestion during the 2020 Tokyo Games

Only a little less than 40% (38.2%) were considering taking some kind of measure. The remaining
60% had not yet decided on a specific measure (“will think of a measure in the future,” “not yet
decided / don’t know”) or “do not plan to take any measures.”

Among the companies that were considering taking some kind of measure, “staggered work hours”
was the most popular measure (72.2%).

Amid concerns toward the expected traffic congestion in central Tokyo during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics andParalympics Games and its impact on workers’ commute, we asked companies what kind of measures they
were considering (Figure 27).
When limiting the question to companies with offices in Tokyo, only 38.2% of them were considering taking
some kind of measure, while the remaining 60% “will think of a measure in the future” (26.6%), have “not yet
decided / don’t know” (23.2%), or “do not plan to take any measures” (12.1%). Even with less than a year until
the start of the Games, awareness of the problem has not yet been shared widely.

Figure 27: Measures to Counter Traffic Congestion during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics andParalympics Games

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

24

RESEARCH REPORT｜ Xymax Real Estate InstituteAmong the companies that were considering some kind of measure, “staggered work hours” (72.2%) and“encouraging employees to take paid holiday” (57.9%) were being considered the most (Figure 28). These
measures may pose less of a challenge than other possible measures due to their relative ease of implementing.
However, if many companies only introduced staggered work hours, the effect would be limited as it would
only result in a shift of the peak of traffic congestion. To remove such concerns, it would be more effective toprovide places for telework, such as serviced, shared, or satellite offices. The importance of providing morealternative workstyles and workplaces may be rising ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Games as well as due to recent
societal demand in workstyle reforms.

Figure 28: Measures to Counter Traffic Congestion during the 2020 Tokyo Games

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

25

RESEARCH REPORT｜ Xymax Real Estate Institute

5. Summary
In terms of the changes in the number of office users, office size, and rent per tsubo, the increase exceeded
the decrease over the past year, indicating continued robust demand for offices (Figures 1–3). The growth ofrent per tsubo since the start of the survey was particularly prominent.
Furthermore, as Figure 7 indicates, companies’ efforts in workstyle reforms are progressing steadily, andaround 60% of companies introducing the reforms feel the effects of the reforms (Figure 9). On the other hand,the percentage of companies feeling the effects of the reforms has dropped from a year ago, suggesting thatthe hurdle of expectations for the results of the reforms has risen as workstyle reforms gain momentum insociety. With the progress of workstyle reforms, places and programs for telework are being offered more, suchas the work-from-home program and serviced offices, and around 80% of the companies are introducing somekind of measure for employees to carry out telework (Figure 11). When examining the implementation ofplaces for telework by company attribute, we found that places for telework were being provided at a broad
range of companies regardless of size or industry (Figures 16–19). Establishing or utilizing systems that enable
telework such as attendance management and personnel evaluation may be carried out at around 80% of thecompanies (including companies that are interested) in the future (Figure 20), and we believe that alternative
workplaces will continue to become more available.
The office space per person at companies that had introduced a place or program for telework was smaller
than companies that had not, especially at companies that used serviced or shared offices (Figure 21). This
indicates a tendency for the space per person in the main office to become smaller as more alternative
workplaces become available, the effect of which on office demand we must examine.
This time we also examined, in addition to actual initiatives, the themes companies were focusing on on acompany-wide basis and their major focuses to achieve a workstyle that leads to improved productivity inorder to analyze what companies were focused on and what kind of workstyles they embraced as a result. We
found that companies focusing on health & productivity management and well-being placed emphasis on
supporting employees’ balance of work and child/elder care and improving employees’ work-life balance morethan companies that were not focused on health & productivity management and well-being, and had
introduced telework more accordingly (Figures 24 and 25). Our survey also implies that companies focusing
on health & productivity management and well-being tend to have greater awareness toward establishing aflexible and better work environment for employees and to actually provide many workstyle options.
Although the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics Games are due next year and traffic congestion is
expected in central Tokyo during the period, our survey revealed that a majority of the companies had not yet
decided on measures to deal with the problem (Figure 27). Companies will face the need to tackle the problem
and seriously consider workstyle reforms or providing alternative workplaces as the event approaches. The shift
to more flexible workstyles without being bound to the location is expected to accelerate in the future, andworkplaces would be dispersed everywhere accordingly as work-from-home programs as well as serviced andshared offices are introduced and used more. We intend to observe continuously the quantitative factors
including demographics, as well as the qualitative changes in office demand due to the social factors such asworkstyle reforms.

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

26

RESEARCH REPORT｜ Xymax Real Estate Institute
Survey Overview
Survey period

October 2019

Targetrespondents・Companies that are tenants of office buildings managed by the Xymax Group・Client companies of XYMAX INFONISTA Corporation
A total of 3,536 companies

No. of valid
responses

1,386 companies; response rate: 39%

Geographicalcoverage

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

SurveymethodBy email and questionnaire sheet
Current office:・ Contract format, office type, location, contracted area, rent per tsubo (incl. CAM charges),
number of office users, impression of office size
About the company:
・ Business confidence, sense of labor shortage, company type, theme focusing on
Change in office demand (October 2018–September 2019):
・ Change in number of office users
・ Change in office size (area)
・ Change in rent per tsubo

Topicscovered in thesurveyInitiatives in workstyle reforms:
・ Initiatives, purpose, sense of effect, specific effects of workstyle reforms
・ Major focuses in terms of the direction of management to improve productivity
Work environment:
・ Initiatives in workstyles
・ Major focuses to achieve workstyles that lead to improved productivity
・ Initiatives interested in upon establishing a work environment
・ Concerns and obstacles in workstyle reforms or establishing a work environment
Measures to counter traffic congestion during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics Games:
・ Measures being considered
Company attributes:
・ Industry, location of head office, number of employees, average age of employees, year of
establishment
Respondent attributes:
・ Department, position, age group

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

27

RESEARCH REPORT｜ Xymax Real Estate InstituteProfile of Respondent Companies (Upper row: percentage of total; Lower row: number of companies)【Industry】
Mining /Agriculture / Quarrying ofForestrystone andElectricity,

Manufac-Construction

turingtion / Postal

communication

Water

gravelTransporta-

Tele-

Gas, Heat,

service

Real estate /Wholesale /Finance /RetailInsurance

Leasing of
goods

0.1%

0.1%

6.6%

17.2%

1.0%

14.9%

2.6%

13.7%

3.6%

4.1%

2

1

92

239

14

207

36

190

50

57

Academic

Daily life

research /Accommoda-tion services /Professional or/ Restaurants

Education /Learning

Entertain-

technical service

Welfaresupportment

Service
Multi-service (those notbusinessclassified as

Medical /Civil service

other sectors)(excl. those

Unclassifiableclassified asindustries

other sectors)

5.1%

0.4%

0.9%

1.4%

1.2%

1.4%

22.3%

0.3%

3.0%

71

6

12

19

17

19

309

4

41

【Number of employees】
Less than

1,000 or

100–999

100

Unknown

more

46.3%

35.7%

17.8%

0.1%

642

495

247

2

【Type of office】
Head office

Branch office Sales officeSub-officeComputerCall center

Other

room

63.9%

23.2%

9.2%

1.2%

0.6%

0.1%

1.7%

885

322

128

17

8

2

24

【Location of office】
Tokyo 23

Osaka City

Wards

Nagoya City

Fukuoka City Other

65.7%

6.0%

9.4%

4.3%

14.6%

911

83

130

59

203

【Size of office under lease contract in tsubo】 (1 tsubo = 3.3 sqm)
Less than 30
tsubo

30-49 tsubo

50-99 tsubo

100-199

200 tsubo or

tsubo

more

No answer

14.4%

14.2%

18.5%

16.2%

23.3%

13.3%

200

197

256

225

323

185

【Average age of employees】
20–29

30–39

40–49

50–59

60 or above

No answer

2.7%

38.7%

49.3%

7.4%

0.8%

1.1%

37

537

683

103

11

15

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

28

RESEARCH REPORT｜ Xymax Real Estate InstituteProfile of Respondents (Upper row: percentage of total; Lower row: number of respondents)【Department】
Administra-

Human

Accounting / Information

tion

resources

FinancesystemPlanning /Manufac-

PR /

Sales

Production/

turing /MarketingPurchasequality

Production

management

Technology /
R&D

42.9%

7.5%

11.0%

1.8%

5.1%

17.7%

0.3%

0.9%

1.2%

3.7%

594

104

153

25

71

246

4

12

17

51

Other

7.9%
109

【Position】
Management/ Officer class

Contract,

GeneralSection head Team headmanager

class

class

class

Rank-and-file

temporary,part-time

Other

employee

17.1%

19.6%

24.7%

14.5%

20.5%

2.1%

1.5%

237

271

343

201

284

29

21

【Age group】
20–29

30–39

40–49

50–59

60 or above

5.5%

16.7%

35.6%

31.3%

10.8%

76

232

494

434

150

・The percentage mix in the charts contained in this report are rounded to the first decimal place and therefore may not add up to100%.

・Figures 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 21 are excerpts of the main places and programs for telework.

Contact for inquiries concerning this report
Xymax Real Estate Institutehttps://soken.xymax.co.jp

E-MAIL: info-rei@xymax.co.jp

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019
The contents of this report are as of the time of writing. Xymax Real Estate Institute does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
This report may not be reproduced, cited, transmitted, distributed, or reprinted without prior permission of Xymax Real Estate Institute.
Copyright © 2019 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

29