Xymax Real Estate Institute

RESEARCH REPORT

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring
2021
Examining changes in work styles and the workplace caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic

June 9, 2021

In the past several years, companies have been promoting work style reforms aimed at acquiring personnel
and improving productivity, with more companies aiming to shift from the conventional, inflexible work style toone that is not constrained by place or time. After more than a year since the global outbreak of the novel
coronavirus (COVID-19), how has companies’ ideas toward work styles and the workplace changed?
Since Autumn 2016, Xymax Real Estate Institute (hereinafter, “Xymax REI”) has conducted questionnaire
surveys on companies’ use of offices and work styles on a semi-annual basis to continuously analyze therelationship between office demand. This report covers the results of the tenth survey.

Summary of Survey Results
1. Change in Office Demand (April 2020–March 2021) (Pages 3–13)


18.6% of the companies replied that the number of users* of their office increased and 11.0% repliedthat rent per tsubo rose over the past year, both the smallest percentage since the start of thesurvey. Companies that downsized their office outweighed those that expanded for the first timesince the start of the survey.
*In this report, “users” refer to employees who are eligible to use the office though they may not
be using it every day.



As the reason for downsizing the office, 58.8% of the companies replied, “Less space will be needed
due to telework,” representing a significant increase from the Spring 2020 survey.



In terms of the sum of the actual change in office size over the past year and the percentage ofcompanies that may change their office size going forward, the percentage of “Expansion (actual +potential)” has been declining since the Spring 2019 survey. On the other hand, the percentage of“Downsizing (actual + potential)” is rising, suggesting that more companies may further downsize
their office.

In terms of the percentage of employees coming to the office after the end of the pandemic(intention), the percentage of companies replying “100% (Come to office entirely)” (25.2%) was
larger than the actual percentage (17.7%), while the remaining 74.8% of companies intended tocarry out telework, although the frequency and degree vary.

The percentage of companies that wanted the percentage of desks to users of the office to be “lessthan 100%” was 45.4%, 29.3 percentage points more than the current percentage (16.1%). This trend
is likely to continue since it seems that more companies are reducing their number of desks on theback of fewer employees coming to the office due to the progress of telework, among other factors.



As for business sentiment, “Good” and “Somewhat good” totaled 24.1%, while “Bad” and “Somewhat
bad” totaled 38.7%, indicating a business sentiment DI of -14.6.

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

1

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

2. Diversification of Workplaces (Pages 14–20)
With regard to flexible space within the companies’ current office, 31.7% of the companies haveintroduced a “Booth or private room for remote meetings,” which suggests a rising need for spacethat can respond to teleworking employees. The result also indicated that desks that can be used
flexibly were available at around 60% of the companies.



Nearly 30% of the companies want to increase the share of flexible desks going forward. The mostpopular reason was because fewer employees come to the office to work due to telework (60.7%).
This suggests that companies are requiring an office layout that can respond flexibly to the change
in the percentage of workers coming to the office instead of the conventional layout that offers
fixed desks for all users of the office.

In terms of the change in the availability rate of places for telework, “Developing/using a work-fromhome program” has increased significantly since Spring 2020, the survey that followed the outbreakof COVID-19. The availability of satellite offices is also increasingly each year.

More than half of the companies that use both a satellite office and a work-from-home program
replied that they think they can obtain benefits from telework (sum of “Strongly agree” and“Somewhat agree”) such as “Office cost efficiency,” “Drop in turnover rate (e.g., rise in reinstatement
rate of women after maternity leave),” “Advantage in hiring,” and “Productivity improvement.” Thissuggests that companies with more options of telework places valued telework more.

With regard to reviewing workplace strategies, companies that were reviewing the strategies andwere succeeding remained at 10.6%, while more than half of the companies were still exploring,such as “Reviewing but facing challenges” (16.8%) and “Considering review or gathering
information” (36.8%).

3. Outlook of Office Demand (Pages 21–29)


25.5% of the companies replied that the number of users of their offices will increase, while 14.1%
replied it will decrease. As for office size, more companies wanted to downsize (16.4%) than expand(10.8%), suggesting that an increase in the number of users of the office may not directly lead to anincrease in office size.



46.4% of the companies wished to have a booth or private room for remote meetings in their current
office, significantly outweighing the current availability rate (31.7%).



As for measures in places for telework companies want to implement in the future, the percentage
of “Satellite office” (29.1%) was 10.2 percentage points larger than the current availability rate
(18.9%).

The requirement that companies focused on the most in the property in which to set up a satellite
office after the end of the pandemic was “High security performance” (59.7%). Around half of thecompanies focused on “It is close to where employees live” (50.9%), while only 21.5% placedemphasis on the property being “an office district or an office building.” This suggests that many
companies consider satellite offices as a way to bring the workplace close to employees’ homes.



As for the location of the workplace after the end of the pandemic, “Keep HQ functions in city centerand disperse workplaces in suburbs (incl. WFH)” (40.0%) substantially outweighed “Consolidate
workplaces in the city center” (7.9%).

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

2

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

1. Change in Office Demand (April 2020–March 2021)
Changes in number of users, size, and rent
The changes in the number of users of the office, office size, and rent per tsubo (including CAM charges; thesame applies hereinafter) over the past year (April 2020–March 2021) were as shown in Figures 1, 2, and 8.
Looking at the trend of the results of all these items from the past shows that the tide has changed in officedemand with the outbreak of COVID-19.
A record low of 18.6% of the companies replied that they saw an increase in the number of eligible users of
their office (Figure 1 (bottom bar)). Meanwhile, 28.9% saw a decrease. This represents an increase from Autumn
2020, but it may include companies that saw fewer employees coming to the office due to telework.
Figure 1: Change in Number of Users of the Office

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

3

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
As for the office size, 5.5% of the companies (roughly the same as Autumn 2020) replied that they expanded
their office, while 8.3% replied that they downsized, which is an increase on the previous survey and the firsttime companies that downsized exceeded those that expanded (Figure 2 (bottom bar)).
Figure 2: Change in Office Size

The most popular style of office expansion was “Relocation” (40.7%), followed by “Expansion in same building”(30.8%) (Figure 3). The most popular styles of downsizing were “Relocation” (46.3%) and “Downsizing in samebuilding” (31.6%) (Figure 4).
Figure 3: Style of Office Expansion

Figure 4: Style of Office Downsizing*1 Sub-office: A separate office located near the main office such as the head office to handle some of the functions of the main office

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

4

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
The most popular reason for office expansion was “Office became too small due to increase in personnel(Increase in personnel)” (52.7%), while “Safety and security of employees (e.g., infectious disease control)”(20.9%) nearly doubled from Spring 2020 (Figure 5). The most popular reason for downsizing was “Less space
will be needed due to telework” (58.8%), rising significantly from Spring 2020.
Figure 5: Reason for Expansion

Figure 6: Reason for Downsizing*2 The results for Spring 2019 are not indicated since the choice was added from the Spring 2020 survey.

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

5

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
5.3% of the companies that did not change their office size over the past year either were considering
expanding or had considered expanding but cancelled or suspended the plan. The percentage of “Expansion(Actual + Potential)” has been declining since Spring 2019 (Figure 7). Meanwhile, 8.3% of the companies either
were considering downsizing their office or considered downsizing but cancelled or suspended the plan. The
percentage of “Downsizing (Actual + Potential)” has been increasing since Spring 2019. The percentage ofcompanies that downsized over the past year also rose to 8.3%, suggesting that even more companies may
downsize their offices going forward, considering that more companies have a possibility to downsize.
Figure 7: Change in Office Size over Past Year (Actual + Potential)

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

6

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
The percentage of the companies that replied that rent per tsubo “increased” was 11.0%, another decline inpercentage following the previous survey (Figure 8 (bottom bar)).
Figure 8: Change in Rent per Tsubo

In terms of the change in rent per tsubo by the change in office size, the percentage of companies thatexperienced an increase in rent had significantly outweighed those that experienced a decrease, regardless ofchanges in office size until Spring 2020. This time, however, the percentage of the percentages of a rent increase
and a decrease were roughly the same among companies that downsized their office (Figure 9).
Figure 9: Changes in Office Size and Rent per Tsubo

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

7

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
Change in percentage of employees coming to the office
We asked the companies their “Current average percentage of employees coming to the office (Actual)” andthe “Percentage of employees coming to the office after the end of the pandemic (Intension),” with 100% being
all employees coming to the office (Figure 10). In terms of the “Actual” percentage, 17.7% of the companies
replied “100% (Come to office entirely),” while 28.9% kept the percentage at “less than 40%” (40% of companies
coming to the office is approximately all employees coming to the office for two days per week on average). In
terms of “Intention” for after the end of the pandemic, “100% (Come to office entirely)” increased to 25.2%.
However, the remaining 74.8% of the companies intend to carry out telework, although the frequency anddegree vary. These results were roughly the same as the results of Autumn 2020.
Figure 10: Percentage of Employees Coming to the Office (Actual and Intention)

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

8

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteWe grouped the percentage of employees coming to the office (Actual/Intention) of Figure 10 into “0%(Telework entirely),” “1%–39% (Telework),” “40%–59% (Equally split),” “60%–99% (Come to office,)” and “100%(Come to office entirely)” and examined the characteristics by company attribute (Figure 11).
In terms of the Actual percentage by office location, the percentage of “100% (Come to office entirely)”remained at 12.9% in the Tokyo 23 Wards, while “Less than 40%” (sum of “0% (Telework entirely)” and “1%–39%(Telework)”) accounted for nearly a third (32.9%) of total, indicating a greater tendency for telework than otherlocations. This tendency was not only seen in Tokyo 23 Wards but also in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba
Prefectures.
Figure 11: Percentage of Employees Coming to the Office (Actual and Intension)– By Office Location

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

9

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteBy number of employees, large companies with 1,000 employees or more had a small percentage of “100%(Come to office entirely)” both in Actual and Intention, while “Less than 40%” (sum of “0% (Telework entirely)”and “1%–39% (Telework)”) as the current Actual percentage accounted for 37.8% (Figure 12). We also foundthat companies with less than 99 employees had a higher Actual percentage of “0% (Telework entirely)” (3.4%)
than other sizes of companies.
Figure 12: Percentage of Employees Coming to the Office (Actual and Intension)– By Number of Employees

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

10

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
By sector, “100% (Come to office entirely)” was the most popular among the construction and wholesale andretail trade sectors both in Actual and Intention (Figure 13). In the information and communications sector, theActual percentage of “1%–39% (Telework)” was the largest among all sectors at 41.6%, with “100% (Come tooffice entirely)” remaining at 8.2%. This proves that telework has especially proliferated in this sector.
Figure 13: Percentage of Employees Coming to the Office (Actual and Intension)– By Sector

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

11

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
Changes in number of desks and impression of office size
We calculated the percentage of desks companies provided for the users of their office based on the numbersof users and desks. We also asked companies how much they wanted to provide desks for the users going
forward. Figure 14 compares the results by grouping them into “Less than 100%,” “100%” and “More than 100%.”
Currently, the largest percentage of companies (56.8%) have provided desks for users of the office for “Morethan 100%.” However, while the percentage of “More than 100%” of desks in the future halved to 24.9%, that of“Less than 100%” was 45.4%, 29.3 percentage points more than the current percentage (16.1%). This suggeststhat more companies are reducing their number of desks as fewer employees come to the office due to theprogress of telework. This trend is likely to continue going forward.
Figure 14: Percentage of Desks to Number of Users of Office (Current and Future Intention)

When we asked respondents’ impressions on their current office size, 24.8% replied their office was “verysmall” or “somewhat small,” while a similar 25.3% felt it was “very large” or “somewhat large” (Figure 15).
Compared to Spring 2020, “Very large” and “Somewhat large” have increased while “Very small” and “Somewhat
small” have decreased, suggesting that the impression of the office being small has declined as fewer people
come to the office due to telework.
Figure 15: Impression of Office Size

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

12

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
Change in business sentiment
Figure 16 indicates the “Business Sentiment DI,” which is the sum of the percentage of “Good” and “Somewhat
good” business sentiments minus that of “Bad” and “Somewhat Bad” sentiments from a five-scale rating of“Good,” “Somewhat good,” “Neither good nor bad,” “Somewhat Bad,” and “Bad.”
In this survey, the sum of “Good” and “Somewhat good” was 24.1%, while that of “Bad” and “Somewhat bad”
was 38.7%, indicating a business sentiment DI of -14.6. The business sentiment DI that turned substantiallynegative in the Spring 2020 survey, which was conducted immediately after the outbreak of COVID-19, remained
negative despite continuing to recover, indicating that more companies have a negative business sentimentthan a positive sentiment.
Figure 16: Business Sentiment

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

13

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

Diversification of Workplaces
Office layout
Figure 17 shows the results of flexible spaces companies have in their current office. The top replies included“Open meeting space” (56.3%) and “Hot-desking” (31.9%). In the Spring 2020 survey, 15.8% of the companies
had introduced a “Booth for phone/online conference,” while in this survey 31.7% had introduced a “Booth orprivate room for remote meetings” and 5.9% a “Booth or private room for phone calls,” which suggest a risingneed for space that can respond to teleworking employees.
Figure 17: Flexible Spaces

Of the desks within the office (excluding meeting rooms), we asked the companies the share of fixed desks
and that of flexible spaces as indicated in Figure 17 (Figure 18). The result showed that only 35.8% of thecompanies had “100% fixed desks; 0% flexible desks (All fixed desks)” and that around 60% of the companies
had provided some number of flexible desks. About 5% replied, “0% fixed desks; 100% flexible desks (All flexible
desks).”
Figure 18: Share of Fixed Desks and Flexible Desks

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

14

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
When we asked the companies their future intentions on the share of fixed desks and flexible desks, “Maintainthe status quo” was the top reply (60.7%), while companies that “Want to increase share of flexible desks”
accounted for nearly 30% at 27.2% (Figure 19).
Figure 19: Future Intention on Share of Fixed Desks and Flexible Desks

When we asked companies that “Want to increase share of flexible desks” the reason for doing so, the top
reason was “Because fewer people come to the office due to telework” (60.7%), which suggests that companies
are requiring an office layout that can respond flexibly to the change in the percentage of workers coming tothe office instead of the conventional layout that offers fixed desks for all users of the office (Figure 20).
Furthermore, the fact that “Due to a rise in new needs from telework, etc.” (34.6%) ranked high after “To respondto changes in number of users” (46.9%) and “To vitalize internal communication” (35.3%) suggests thatcompanies will re-examine their office layout in accordance with New Normal work styles.
Figure 20: Reason for Wanting to Increase Share of Flexible Desks

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

15

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
Current status of telework
Figure 21 shows the initiatives on work styles that companies are implementing, regardless of whether the
initiative accommodated all or some of the target persons. Many companies had implemented mobile workmeasures (the top three items). Other top replies included “Developing/using a work-from-home (WFH)
program” (57.0%) and “Paperless materials and books” (38.8%).
Figure 21: Initiatives on Work Styles*3 IT device: Smartphones, mobile PCs, tablets, etc.
*4 Satellite office: A collective term for workplaces established for telework, apart from the main office or the home. There
are those that are provided by specialized service operators and those that are provided by the company.
*5 Workation: A portmanteau of working vacation, meaning to work from a travel destination, etc.

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

16

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteOf these initiatives, we examined the trend of “Developing/using a work-from-home (WFH) program” and“Satellite offices” (either of the following: “Using satellite office, etc. provided by specialized operator, etc.” and“Establishing satellite office, etc. owned or leased by own company”), which are initiatives related to places fortelework. This shows that “Developing/using a work-from-home (WFH) program” has increased significantly
since the Spring 2020 survey, which was conducted after the outbreak of COVID-19 (Figure 22). The availabilityof satellite offices is also increasing each year.
Figure 22: Availability of Work-from-home and Satellite Offices

By office location, the availability of satellite offices in Tokyo 23 Wards was more than double that of otherareas (Figure 23).
Figure 23: Availability of Work-from-home and Satellite Offices – By Office Location(Figures in brackets are results of Spring 2020 for reference)

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

17

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
When examining in terms of number of employees, we found that larger companies offered greater availabilityof both WFH and satellite offices (Figure 24).
Figure 24: Availability of Work-from-home and Satellite Offices – By Number of Employees(Figures in brackets are results of Spring 2020 for reference)

By sector, WFH was available at more than half of the companies in all sectors. Although the availability ofsatellite offices was relatively low in the wholesale and retail trade sector, the availability did not vary significantly,
indicating that satellite offices are available regardless of sector (Figure 25).
Figure 25: Availability of Work-from-home and Satellite Offices – By Sector(Figures in brackets are results of Spring 2020 for reference)

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

18

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteWe asked companies that replied they have introduced a satellite office in Figure 22 whether there were anychanges in the provision of satellite offices over the past year (April 2020–March 2021). More than half of thecompanies had increased the provision of a satellite office, with 29.6% introducing it for the first time and 21.5%
seeing an increase in the number of offices and subscribed services (Figure 26).
Figure 26: Change in the Provision of Satellite Offices

In Figure 27, we asked all companies whether they think that telework brings advantages such as “Office cost
efficiency,” “Drop in turnover rate (e.g., rise in reinstatement rate of women after maternity leave),” “Advantage
in hiring,” and “Productivity improvement,” and compared the results by availability of telework (*6). More thanhalf of the companies that used both a satellite office and a WFH program thought that they could achieve all
the benefits (sum of “Strongly agree” and “Somewhat agree”), indicating that companies that offered moreplaces for telework rated the advantages of teleworking more highly.
*6 The companies shown in Figure 22 were categorized into the following four groups: “Use both satellite officeand WFH,” “Satellite office only,” “WFH only,” and “Neither.”Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

19

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
Figure 27: Advantages of Telework – By Telework Availability

Implementation of Workplace Strategies
Following the outbreak of COVID-19, reviewing workplace strategies has become a managerial issue forcompanies. However, when we asked companies if they reviewed their workplace strategies, only 10.6% replied
they were reviewing and were succeeding, while more than half were still exploring, such as “Reviewing but
facing challenges” (16.8%) and “Considering review or gathering information” (36.8%) (Figure 28).
Figure 28: Implementation of Workplace Strategies

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

20

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

Outlook of Office Demand
Outlook of number of users and office size
We asked companies their 1–2 year outlook of the number of users of their current office (including employees
who will not come to the office due to telework). 25.5% of the companies replied that the number will increase,
while 14.1% replied it will decrease. In Spring 2020, “Will increase” and “Will decrease” were even, a sharp shift
from the trend before Spring 2019. In this survey “Will increase” outweighed “Will decrease” again (Figure 29).
Figure 29: Future Change in Number of Users of Office

In contrast, companies’ intentions toward their office size 2–3 years ahead continued to see “Want to downsize”
outweigh “Want to expand,” as 10.8% wanted to expand while 16.4% wanted to downsize (Figure 30). Goingforward, an increase in the number of users of the office may not directly lead to an increase in office size dueto the spread of telework and the use of satellite offices.
Figure 30: Intention toward Future Office Size

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

21

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteLet us examine companies’ intentions toward future office size by company attribute. By office location,companies in Tokyo 23 Ward had a stronger intention to downsize compared to companies in other areas, with
“Want to downsize” accounting for 20.0% (Figure 31). Companies in Fukuoka city showed greater intentions
toward expansion (19.5%) than downsizing (6.1%).
Figure 31: Intention toward Future Office Size – By Office Location

By number of employees, we found that large companies with 1,000 employees or more had a relatively higher
percentage of the intention to downsize (24.6%) (Figure 32).
Figure 32: Intention toward Future Office Size – By Number of Employees

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

22

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
By sector, the sectors with high intentions to downsize included information and communications (21.6%),
services, manufacturing, and scientific research, professional and technical services sectors (Figure 33). The
information and communications sector also had a relatively high intention to expand (14.7%).
Figure 33: Intention toward Future Office Size – By Sector

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

23

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteRegarding the style of the expansion, the top replies were “In the same building” (43.8%) and “Relocation”(37.6%) (Figure 34). The most popular styles of downsizing were “Relocation” (46.1%) and “In the same building”(33.9%) (Figure 35).
Figure 34: Style of Future Expansion

Figure 35: Style of Future Downsizing*1 Sub-office: A separate office located near the main office such as the head office to handle some of the functions of the main office

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

24

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
The most popular reason for wishing to expand the office was “Increase in personnel” (51.1%), as in theprevious surveys, followed by “Not enough meeting rooms” (43.8%) and “For enhanced comfortability” (43.3%)(Figure 36). The top reason for wishing to downsize the office was “Less space will be needed due to telework”(67.9%), followed by “Cost reduction” (62.7%) and “Office space efficiency” (50.9%) (Figure 37).
Figure 36: Reason for Future Expansion

Figure 37: Reason for Future Downsizing*2 The results for Spring 2019 are not indicated since the choice was added from the Spring 2020 survey.

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

25

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
Outlook of workplaces
We asked companies what kind of space they prefer to have in their current office in the future (1–2 years
from now) regardless of the current situation. 46.4% of the companies wanted a “Booth or private room forremote meetings,” which significantly exceeded the current availability rate (31.7%) (Figure 38). “Space forrefreshing,” “Space for concentrating,” and “Booth or private room for phone calls” were also more than 10
percentage points higher than the current availability rate, suggesting they may be widely introduced in offices
going forward.
Figure 38: Spaces Companies Prefer to Have in the Future

We also asked companies the initiative on the place for telework they wanted to implement in the future (1–2 years from now) regardless of the current situation. While work-from-home gained 56.3%, which is roughly inline with the current availability rate, satellite offices accounted for 29.1%, 10.2 percentage points more than thecurrent availability rate of 18.9% (Figure 39).
Figure 39: Initiatives related to Places for Telework Companies Want to Implement

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

26

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
When we asked companies the requirements they placed emphasis on in the property in which to establish
their main office after the end of the pandemic, the top requirement was “Convenient location” (67.8%) (Figure40). Other top replies were requirements related to safety and security, such as “High seismic capacity (e.g., newstandards, seismic isolation/control)” (46.2%) and “High security performance” (45.9%).
Figure 40: Key Requirement in Property for the Main Office

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

27

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
Similarly, Figure 41 shows the results of the requirements that companies placed emphasis on in the property
in which to establish a satellite office after the end of the pandemic. The top requirement was “High security
performance” (59.7%). In addition, since “It is close to where employees live” ranked second at 50.9% while “It is
an office district or office building” remained at 21.5%, we estimate that many companies consider a satellite
office as a way to bring the workplace close to home.
Figure 41: Key Requirement in Property for a Satellite Office

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

28

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
Lastly, we asked companies about their thoughts on the location of the workplace after the end of thepandemic. “Keep HQ functions in the city center and disperse workplaces in the suburbs (incl. WFH)” gained
40.0%, far outstripping “Consolidated workplaces in the city center” (7.9%) (Figure 42). However, even a greater
percentage of companies replied, “Don’t know,” which indicates that many companies have not been able to
make up their minds on their workplace strategies amid uncertainties as to when the pandemic will abate.
Figure 42: Location of Workplace after End of Pandemic

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

29

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

Summary
Until the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of users of the office and companies’ office sizes
had been on a rising trend in this survey series, indicating a general rule that an increase in personnel leads toan increase in office size (demand). This time, however, the survey showed a different trend from the past, as
more companies replied that the number of users of the office will increase in the future than decrease, while inthe meantime more companies replied that they wanted to downsize their office than expand. Various elements
other than changes in the number of users, such as the availability of telework and a flexible office layout, areimpacting changes in office demand (office size), which suggests that it is becoming impossible to consider thenecessary office size based on a simple formula of “number of users x area per person.” It will also be necessary
to determine whether those elements are temporary factors of the pandemic or whether they will remain in the
future.
As for work styles, we believe that a hybrid strategy of combining the office and telework will be established
as a “New Normal” work style, as approximately 75% of the companies intend to use telework after the end of
the pandemic and the availability of satellite offices has been rising year after year. Given this, what companies
should consider as a workplace strategy will not only be to change the size of the main office or introduce a
flexible layout but also to provide a satellite office, etc. as a place for telework and to examine the operationalrules.
On the other hand, we should also focus on the fact that companies’ actual work styles and intentions are notentirely showing the same tendencies. The difference in workplace strategies and initiatives will widen between
companies that evolve their employees’ work styles in anticipation of the end of the pandemic and companies
that consider the current work style to be a temporary response to the pandemic and will return to their previous
work styles after the pandemic has abated. At the same time, many companies are still considering strategies
and are preparing for decision-making while gathering information amid uncertainties as to when the pandemic
will abate.
Under circumstances that change every moment, companies must determine various elements in considering
their workplace strategies. Xymax REI will strive to provide help by continuing to release useful survey results.

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

30

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute
Survey Overview
Survey period

April 2021

Targetrespondents

Emails were sent to 42,616 companies in total that include:
・Companies that are tenants of office buildings managed by the Xymax Group・Companies subscribing to ZXY, a satellite office service for corporations
・Client companies of XYMAX INFONISTA Corporation

Numberofvalid answers

1,648 companies; response rate: 3.9%

Geographicalcoverage

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

SurveymethodEmailCurrent office・ Contract type, office type, location, office area under lease contract, rent per tsubo (incl. CAM
charges), number of users of the office*・ Impression of size, percentage of employees coming to the office (actual, intention)*“Users” are employees who are eligible to use the office though they may not be using it every day.
Current status of office use and telework
・ Flexible space, number of desks, percentage of fixed desks and flexible space (actual, intention),
intentions on number of desks
・ Implementation of initiatives on work styles, provision of a satellite office・ Advantages of teleworking
・ Emphasis on and implementation of workplace strategies
Topicscovered in thesurveyChange in office demand (April 2020–March 2021)
・ Change in office size and the details and reasons of the change
・ Change in rent per tsubo
・ Change in number of users
Outlook of office demand・ Business sentiment・ Outlook of change in number of the users
・ Intentions to change office size and the details and reasons of the change
・ Preferred flexible space, initiatives on places for telework companies want to implement
・ Key requirements in the property in which to establish the main office and a satellite office・ Location of the workplace
Company attributes
・ Sector, number of employees, average age of employees

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

31

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteAttributes of Respondent Companies (Upper row: Percentage of total; Lower row: number of companies)[Sector]
Agriculture

Mining andElectricity,

Information

quarrying ofgas, heatandsupply andcommunica-

water

tions

and forestry stone andConstruction Manufacturing

gravelTransport

Wholesaleand postal

and retailservices

tradeReal estate
Finance and and goods
insurance

rental andleasing

0.1%

0.1%

5.5%

16.3%

0.8%

14.9%

2.2%

14.6%

3.3%

5.1%

2

1

90

268

13

245

37

240

54

84

ScientificAccommoda-

research,
professional
and technicalservicestions, eating
and drinking
services

Govern-Living-related
and personal Education,
services and learning

Medical,amusement

and welfare

health care

supportCompoundServices,

services

n.e.c.

ments andagencies

Unclassifiable(Excl. thoseclassified

services

elsewhere)

7.0%

0.5%

1.0%

1.3%

1.4%

1.6%

21.1%

0.6%

2.7%

115

9

17

21

23

27

348

10

44

[Number of employees]
Less than

1,000 or

100–999

100

Unknown

more

48.6%

33.8%

17.2%

0.4%

801

557

284

6

[Type of office]Head office

BranchSales office Sub-office

officeComputerCall center

Other

room

64.2%

22.9%

8.6%

0.9%

0.5%

0.1%

2.7%

1,058

378

142

15

9

2

44

[Location of office]Tokyo 23

Nagoya city Osaia city

Wards

Fukuoka

Other

city

63.4%

5.5%

10.4%

5.0%

15.7%

1,045

91

172

82

258

[Size of office under lease contract (1 tsubo = 3.3 sqm)]
Less than

30–49

50–99

100–199

200 tsubo

30 tsubo

tsubo

tsubo

tsubo

or moreNo answer

15.4%

14.6%

17.7%

15.2%

21.8%

15.4%

254

241

291

250

359

253

[Average age of employees]
20–29

30–39

40–49

50–59

60 or above No answer

2.2%

37.1%

51.2%

7.4%

1.6%

0.5%

36

611

843

122

27

9

The percentage mix in the charts contained in this report are rounded to the first decimal place and therefore may not add up to 100%.

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

32

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteRelated Surveys
・Autumn 2016 (1st survey) Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey 2016 – Demand Trends, released on 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, released on 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, released on 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, released on December 7, 2017https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20171207.pdf
・Spring 2018 (4th survey) Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2018, released on July 3, 2018https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20180703.pdf
・Autumn 2018 (5th survey) Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2018, released on December 18, 2018https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20181218.pdf
・Spring 2019 (6th survey) Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2019, released on June 26, 2019https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20190626.pdf
・Autumn 2019 (7th survey) Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2019, released on November 27, 2019https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20191127.pdf
・TOPIC REPORT Companies’ Work Styles and the Workplace under the Corona Crisis, released on July 15, 2020
https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20200715.pdf
・Spring 2020 (8th survey) Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2020 (Carried Out in June), released on July 29, 2020
https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20200729.pdf
・Greater Tokyo Company Survey on Work Styles and the Workplace – August 2020, released on September 18, 2020
https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20200918.pdf
・Autumn 2020 (9th survey) Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Autumn 2020, released on December 2, 2020
https://www.xymax.co.jp/english/research/images/pdf/20201202.pdf
・Greater Tokyo Company Survey on Work Styles and the Workplace – December 2020, released on January 27, 2021
https://soken.xymax.co.jp/2021/01/27/2101-greatertokyo_workstyle_survey_2012/ (Japanese)
・Greater Tokyo Company Survey on Work Styles and the Workplace – January 2021, released on March 10, 2021
https://soken.xymax.co.jp/2021/03/10/2103-greatertokyo_workstyle_survey_2101/ (Japanese)
・Workplace Strategy as a Managerial Issue, released on March 22, 2021
https://soken.xymax.co.jp/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2103-TOPIC-REPORT-Workplace-Strategy-as-a-Managerial-Issue.pdf

For further inquiries please contact:
Xymax Real Estate Institutehttps://soken.xymax.co.jp | E-MAIL: info-rei@xymax.co.jp

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey Spring 2021
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 © 2021 Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

33