Xymax Real Estate Institute

RESEARCH REPORT

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey 2016
New Ways of Working and Office
January 30, 2017

Ways of working changed. Alternative workspaces are becoming popular.

Keeping workers and improving productivity are urgent matters facing companies in Japan; labor shortage
from the aging population and decline in working-age population is a nationwide problem. More companies
are starting to allow employees to be flexible on where and when they work. If this trend goes on, it will impact
the office space demand. For example, not only the required size of office but also the preferred location andthe way of using the office space will be different in the future.
Xymax Real Estate Institute started a regular survey on the use of office space and ways of how people work.
Based on the survey, we examine the impact of the trends on the office space demand. The study of new ways
of working and alternative workspaces from our first survey is covered in this report. For the office demand
trend part, please read the other report released on January 12, 2017.

Summary of Survey Results: New Ways of Working and Office1.

Initiatives on New Ways of Working (Page 2 – Page 5)
Companies that hire more are more positive. Different industries take different approaches.
Figures 2 and 3・ More than half of the companies made mobile working available for employees.
・ Large companies with more employees are more positive in allowing different ways of working.
・ Mobile working is popular in manufacturers while hot-desking offices and work-from-homeprograms are popular in telecommunication industry.

・ Top management took the initiative (62%).
・ New ways of working were started aiming to improve productivity (65%).
2.

Alternative Workspaces Year-on-Year Change (Page 6 – Page 7)
Largest progress over the year was work-from-home program (7.0%). Use of mobile-work office (notthe main office, not the home) started in the past year (4.4%). Different workspaces are becoming
more available.

3.

Figure 6

Office Strategy – Intention and Focus (Page 8 – Page 9)
There are not only traditional personal desk areas but also refresh spaces and hot-desking areas.
Companies showed intention to have strategies that allow employees to work away from themain office such as working from home or use of mobile-work office.

4.

Figure 9

Office Strategy – Concerns (Page 10)
Cost-control related matters dominated the top concerns. Companies worry that improving the office
is costly and its cost efficiency is unclear.

Figure 11

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey 2016 – New Ways of Working and Office
All the contents are as of the date of this report. Xymax Corporation does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information herein.
Copying, quoting, forwarding, distributing, reprinting or any other use of this report is not allowed without prior permission from Xymax Real
Estate Institute Corporation.
Copyright © 2017 Xymax Corporation. All rights reserved.

1

RESEARCH
H REPORT
T｜Xymax Reeal Estate Innstitute

1. Initia
atives ono New Ways oof WorkingMo
ore than half of the comppanies made mobile work
king available
e for employyees.
Larrge companies with more
e employees are more po
ositive in allowing differennt ways of working.

Mo
obile workinng is popula
ar in manu facturers whhile hot-dessking officess and work-from-homeproograms are popularpin tellecommunicaation industrry.

"Reform the way we worrk" is a top priority of the Japanese goovernment. Itt contains a w
wide range ofo issues suchhas reducing the long hoours of work and narrow ing the pay gap. In our survey, com panies were asked aboutof the new ways
wof work
king at theirr current office, in conne
ection with tthe use of office and theeavailability opersonnel syystem that giive the emplo
oyees more cchoices in whhere to workk (Figure 1).
More than hhalf of the coompanies hav
ve already m ade available
e the mobile
e working (woork away from office withh
IT tools) andd the video/oonline confere
ence system ("for all the employees" and "for som
me employeees" combinedd,the same applies hereafter). This was followed by "set a 'no ovvertime-workk day' and red
duce long-ho
ours of workk"(48%), which
h is also one of the impo
ortant topics in "reform th
he way we work".
w
Work-ffrom-home programspareeavailable at 1
15% of the companies; it is 31% if com
mbined with "discussed nownor near ffuture".
Figu
ure 1: Progrress in Comppany's Approroaches to New
NWays off Working (SSingle answer) (nn=1,124)adesignated for use by a ddepartment or a team. The mem
mbers can use a ny of the desks within the area.
(*1) Team desking: Desk areas
Metropolitan A
Areas Office De
emand Survey 2016 – New W
Ways of Working
g and Office
All the contents aare as of the date ofo this report. Xym
max Corporation ddoes not guarante
ee the accuracy or completeness of the information herein.
h
Copying, quotingg, forwarding, disttributing, reprintin
ng or any other u se of this report is not allowed witthout prior permiission from Xymaxx Real
Estate Institute Co
orporation.
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ht © 2017 Xymax Corporation. All rights reserved.

2

RESEARCH
H REPORT
T｜Xymax Reeal Estate Innstitute

PICK UPW
Which Commpanies Are Seeing More Pro
ogress in New
N
Ways of Workinng?
Companies tthat are making progresss in adopting
g new ways ofo working ha
ave some tenndency.
One is the nnumber of em
mployees hirred by the coompany. Thee larger the numbernof em
mployees, th
he more likelyy
the companyy has adopte
ed most of th
he new ways of working excepte
for thee side busineesses (Figuree 2).
The other one is the typ
pe of industtry. In manuffacturing companies, a highhpercenttage of companies madeemobile workking available for emplo
oyees. In teleecommunication compan
nies, high peercentages ofo companies
adopted many of the new
w ways of wo
orking, with a particularlyy high rate for hot desking
g offices andd work-from –home prograams (Figure 3).
Figure 2:
ys of Workinng
New Way(Available
e for All Emp
ployees + So
ome Employyees)
by Number of Emplooyees per Co
ompanyFigure 3:Ne
ew Ways of Working(Avvailable for All Employeees + Some Employees))byy Industry off Company

Metropolitan A
Areas Office De
emand Survey 2016 – New W
Ways of Working
g and Office
All the contents aare as of the date ofo this report. Xym
max Corporation ddoes not guarante
ee the accuracy or completeness of the information herein.
h
Copying, quotingg, forwarding, disttributing, reprintin
ng or any other u se of this report is not allowed witthout prior permiission from Xymaxx Real
Estate Institute Co
orporation.
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ht © 2017 Xymax Corporation. All rights reserved.

3

RESEARCH
H REPORT
T｜Xymax Reeal Estate InnstituteCommpanies' initiatives on newnways oof working werew
startedd because itt was decided by top
mannagement (622%).

he new ways of working ini Figure 1, w
we asked the
e companies how the inittiatives have started. OverRegarding thhalf of the coompanies said it started followingfthee decision byy top manage
ement (62%)), which topp
ped the list
followed by it was "necesssary to resp
pond to the cchanging neeeds" (34%). A bottom-up initiative succh as theinitiatives staarted by on-site staff did not reach 300% and staye
ed at 26% (Figure 4).
F
Figure4: How the initiattives on new
w ways of working startted?
(Multipple answers) (n==1,062)

Metropolitan A
Areas Office De
emand Survey 2016 – New W
Ways of Working
g and Office
All the contents aare as of the date ofo this report. Xym
max Corporation ddoes not guarante
ee the accuracy or completeness of the information herein.
h
Copying, quotingg, forwarding, disttributing, reprintin
ng or any other u se of this report is not allowed witthout prior permiission from Xymaxx Real
Estate Institute Co
orporation.
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ht © 2017 Xymax Corporation. All rights reserved.

4

RESEARCH
H REPORT
T｜Xymax Reeal Estate InnstituteAs ppurposes of takingtinitiatives on new w
ways of work
king, the highhest percentaage of comppanies said
the initiatives aim
m to "improv
ve productivi ty" (65%).
Thosse related to improvemen
nts of work eenvironment ranked higher than cost--related matters.

We asked thhe companie
es what are the purposses of workinng on new ways of wo rking. The mostmpopular
response byy companies was to "improve the prroductivity" (65%). It wa
as followed b
by "motivate
e employees"(51%) and "aachieve workk efficiency" (51%),(
and thhen by "redu
uce long-hours of work (wwork overtim
me, work extraaday)" (40%) (Figure 5).
Other purpo
oses related to improving the workk environmeent followed: "achieve w
work-life ballance" (34%)),"achieve bettter commun
nications bettween emplo
oyees" (30%)), and "prommote well-beiing of emplo
oyees" (25%)).
They ranked
d higher thann the cost-related matterrs such as "reeduce travel cost such ass time and trransportationncost" (17%) aand "reduce office occup
pancy cost" (116%).
Fig
gure 5: Purp
poses of Takiing Initiativ
ves on New WaysW
of Wo rking(Multipple answers) (n==1,062)

Metropolitan A
Areas Office De
emand Survey 2016 – New W
Ways of Working
g and Office
All the contents aare as of the date ofo this report. Xym
max Corporation ddoes not guarante
ee the accuracy or completeness of the information herein.
h
Copying, quotingg, forwarding, disttributing, reprintin
ng or any other u se of this report is not allowed witthout prior permiission from Xymaxx Real
Estate Institute Co
orporation.
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ht © 2017 Xymax Corporation. All rights reserved.

5

RESEARCH
H REPORT
T｜Xymax Reeal Estate Innstitute

2. Alterrnative WorkspWpaces Ye
ear-on-Y
Year ChangeOver the past year, "work-fro
om-home prrograms" (7.0%), "provid
de branch ooffices an ennvironment*4
equivaalent to thatt of main offfice" (5.7%) aand "use of mobile-work
k office " (4..4%) showedd particular
progreess among otheroalternattive workspacces.
Comppanies are sta
arting to allow
w employeess to use multtiple workspa
aces.

Figure 6 is a graph show
wing the alterrnative worksspaces madee available by
y companies other than thet mainoffice and what they add
ded or expand
ded over thee past year. Ea
ach bar show
ws the currennt availability,, and the neww
addition or e
expansion is shown within the bar andd colored light blue.
In the alternative worksp
paces available now, the bbranch offices*2 topped thhe list at 23.88%. In the year-on-yearchanges, thee work-from--home programs saw thee most progre
ess over the past year. Thhe graph shows that theuse of mobille-work office*4 was starte
ed or expand
ded at companies in the past year. Th is means tha
at companiess
have just staarted taking initiativeiin makingm
it ava ilable.

Figure 6: Alternativee Workspace
es Made Ava
ailable by Co
ompanyNoow and Year--on-Year Change(Multiple answwers) (n=1,124)(*2) Company's branch office, etc.:e
Branch officces or similar kin
nds of the comppany. The compaany provides ann environment equivalent to tha
atn officeof the main(*3) Other com
mpany's office: AffiliatedA
companies' offices, cclients' offices, partner companies' offices orr any other succh offices where
employeess are allowed to use.
(*4) Mobile-worrk office: Officess near terminal stationssin a cityy center where employeeseuse forf a short periood of time. Suchh offices areequipped w
with environmen
nt equivalent too that of the maiin office. The exxamples of this typetof office incclude the servicced office andshared office operated by other companiees.
egional or local areas where em
mployees work for long hours. SuchS
offices are equipped with environment(*5) Satellite offfice: Offices in reequivalent to that of the mainmoffice. This type of office caan be those set up by the company or set up aand operated byy othercompaniess.

Metropolitan A
Areas Office De
emand Survey 2016 – New W
Ways of Working
g and Office
All the contents aare as of the date ofo this report. Xym
max Corporation ddoes not guarante
ee the accuracy or completeness of the information herein.
h
Copying, quotingg, forwarding, disttributing, reprintin
ng or any other u se of this report is not allowed witthout prior permiission from Xymaxx Real
Estate Institute Co
orporation.
Copyrigh
ht © 2017 Xymax Corporation. All rights reserved.

6

RESEARCH
H REPORT
T｜Xymax Reeal Estate InnstituteThe breakdo
own of Figuree 6 by numbber of workerrs per compa
any shows that large com
mpanies are moremlikely tooallow the use
e of branch officesoequipped the samme as the maiin office and the use of saatellite officees (Figure 7).
In year-on-yyear change, the new addition or expaansion of use
e of mobile-w
work offices w
was equally seens
at all theecompany sizzes. The large
est year-on-yyear change w
was the work
k-from-homee programs aat companiess that employy
up to 99 employees (8.7%%).
By industry ttype, the worrk-from-hom
me programs,, use of mobile-work offic
ces and use oof other com
mpanies'
offices tend to be high at telecommu
unication com
mpanies (Figure 8).

Figure 7: A
Alternative Workspaces
W
by Headcou
untN
Now and Yea
ar-on-Year Change
C

Figure 8: Altternative W
Workspaces byb IndustryNo
ow and Yearr-on-Year Ch
hange

(M
Multiple answerrs) (n=1,124)(M
Multiple answers ） (n=1,124)Some errors off figures had beeen found in Fig
gure 7, andthe revisions w
were made on Fe
ebruary 8, 2017.

Metropolitan A
Areas Office De
emand Survey 2016 – New W
Ways of Working
g and Office
All the contents aare as of the date ofo this report. Xym
max Corporation ddoes not guarante
ee the accuracy or completeness of the information herein.
h
Copying, quotingg, forwarding, disttributing, reprintin
ng or any other u se of this report is not allowed witthout prior permiission from Xymaxx Real
Estate Institute Co
orporation.
Copyrigh
ht © 2017 Xymax Corporation. All rights reserved.

7

RESEARCH
H REPORT
T｜Xymax Reeal Estate Innstitute3.

Office Strategy – Intenttion & Focus
F
3-1. Officce Strategy – IntentionComppanies showe
ed intention to have varrious areas withinw
their office such as refresh spacessandhot-deesking areas..
They also have intention tot allow em
mployees too work awa
ay from mmain offices by usingpor mobile-wor k offices.
work-ffrom-home programs

What types oof office or ideas are like
ely to help acchieving idea
al working en
nvironment? We asked thhe companies
to choose th
he ideas clossest to their owno(Figuree 9). Their ressponses show
w that they hhave intentio
on to have or
prepare various plans th
hat enable em
mployees too work at diffferent places, not only tthe traditional office withhfixed person
nal desks (28%%).
In more spe
ecific, their strategy inclu
uded, for exaample, havinng various sp
paces within the office suchs
as opennmeeting spaaces (27%), re
efresh spacess (27%) and hot-desking offices (19%%) and provid
ding opportu
unities to useealternative w
workspaces suchs
as work
k-from-homee programs (13%),(
mobile-work officee (9%), nurse
ery space fo
orworking motthers (8%) an
nd satellite office (6%).
Figure 9: Offfice Strateg
gy – What tyypes of offices or office strategy miight be help
pfulin achieving
g ideal ways of working?
(Multipple answers) (n==1,124)(*6) ABW (Activvity Based Workking): Booths for multi-purposee activities suchh as to concentrrate on solo woork, to collabora
ate in a team, oroother activities.

Metropolitan A
Areas Office De
emand Survey 2016 – New W
Ways of Working
g and Office
All the contents aare as of the date ofo this report. Xym
max Corporation ddoes not guarante
ee the accuracy or completeness of the information herein.
h
Copying, quotingg, forwarding, disttributing, reprintin
ng or any other u se of this report is not allowed witthout prior permiission from Xymaxx Real
Estate Institute Co
orporation.
Copyrigh
ht © 2017 Xymax Corporation. All rights reserved.

8

RESEARCH
H REPORT
T｜Xymax Reeal Estate Innstitute3-2. Officce Strategy – Focus
Commpanies think "improve
e productivitty" (53%), "motivate"
woorkers" (49%%) and "achhieve work
efficiency" (39%%) are importtant in office strategy. The
ese percentages exceededd that of "redduce officeocccupancy costt" (29%).
This result resem
mbles the ressult of "Purp oses of Takinng Initiatives on New Wayys of Working".

We asked thhe companie
es what are important w
when implem
menting the officeostrateggy (Figure 10).
1
"Improvee
productivity"" topped thee rank, follow
wed by "mottivate workers". Then "acchieve work efficiency" toook the thirddplace. This rresult was similar to the result of th
he "Purposess of Taking Initiatives onn New Ways of Working"(Figure 5).
"Reduce office occupanccy cost" (29%%) ranked sixxth. The costt saving had always beenn an unavoid
dable issue innthe past; hoowever, comppanies now tend to put more emph
hasis on worrkers such ass trying to improve theirmotivation aand achieve betterb
commmunications b
between emp
ployees.
Figuree 10: What are
a importaant in office strategy? (MMultiple answerss) (n=1,124)

Metropolitan A
Areas Office De
emand Survey 2016 – New W
Ways of Working
g and Office
All the contents aare as of the date ofo this report. Xym
max Corporation ddoes not guarante
ee the accuracy or completeness of the information herein.
h
Copying, quotingg, forwarding, disttributing, reprintin
ng or any other u se of this report is not allowed witthout prior permiission from Xymaxx Real
Estate Institute Co
orporation.
Copyrigh
ht © 2017 Xymax Corporation. All rights reserved.

9

RESEARCH
H REPORT
T｜Xymax Reeal Estate Innstitute4.

Office Strategy – Conceerns

Cosst-related mattersmsuch as "heavy ccost" and "uunclear cost effectivenes s" dominate
ed the top
con
ncerns.

When comppanies were asked aboutt the concerrns and obsttacles on offfice strategy,, they raisedd cost-relateddmatters suchh as "heavy cost" (32%) and "uncleaar cost effecttiveness" (31%) (Figure 1
11). This is similarsto theeresult of "WWork Style an
nd Use of Office
O
Space Survey" connducted by Xymax Real Estate Instittute in 2015
5.
Although coompanies thinnk improving
g productivitty and work environmentt is importannt, they still thinkt
the cosst(fixed cost) is a concern.

e 11: Concerrns and Obsstacles Whenn Implementing Office SStrategy
Figure(Multipple answers) (n==1,124)

Metropolitan A
Areas Office De
emand Survey 2016 – New W
Ways of Working
g and Office
All the contents aare as of the date ofo this report. Xym
max Corporation ddoes not guarante
ee the accuracy or completeness of the information herein.
h
Copying, quotingg, forwarding, disttributing, reprintin
ng or any other u se of this report is not allowed witthout prior permiission from Xymaxx Real
Estate Institute Co
orporation.
Copyrigh
ht © 2017 Xymax Corporation. All rights reserved.

100RESEARCH
H REPORT
T｜Xymax Reeal Estate Innstitute
PICK UP (Referencee)
As we have sseen so far, companies are taking initi atives to make alternative
e workspacess available foor employeess.
What are thee influences of such initia
atives on usee of the mainn office? Figu
ure 12 comppares the office space peerperson of co
ompanies allowing employees to usee alternative workspaces and that off companies not allowing
gsuch alternattive workspa
aces.
In any of the initiatives, the office spaces
per peerson of "avaailable" companies was ssmaller than that of "nootavailable" coompanies. However, we should remeember that alternativeaworkspacew
iniitiatives are not the onlyy
factor of thiss result; othe
er factors succh as increasse or decreasse in number of employeees and channge of layout
may have inffluenced it.
Xymax Real Estate Institute's survey
y will contin
nue. Throughh the survey
y, we will fuurther study the relationnbetween thee way of workking and use
e of office.
Figurre 12: Officee Space per Person (tsubbo) by Alterrnative Workkspaces(Companiies that provid
ded the inform
mation on the size of office anda number of workers.)"A
Available"
anies that responded that they took the initiatives for all the employees or forr some employe
ees.
Compa
Compa
anies that responded that they have prepared anda made alternnative workspacces available.
"N
Not Available"
anies that respo
onded that theyy will take the innitiatives within one year, the innitiatives are beingCompa
discusssed now or will discuss in thee near future, or the initiatives are not taken and they have nointeresst in them (but excludingethose who said "no iddea").
Compa
anies that did not
n give any sp ace when they were asked about which alterrnative workspaces
they have made availa
able for employeees.

Metropolitan A
Areas Office De
emand Survey 2016 – New W
Ways of Working
g and Office
All the contents aare as of the date ofo this report. Xym
max Corporation ddoes not guarante
ee the accuracy or completeness of the information herein.
h
Copying, quotingg, forwarding, disttributing, reprintin
ng or any other u se of this report is not allowed witthout prior permiission from Xymaxx Real
Estate Institute Co
orporation.
Copyrigh
ht © 2017 Xymax Corporation. All rights reserved.

11
1

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate Institute

Survey Overview
TimingOctober 2016

TargetRespondents

3,252 companies• Companies that are tenants of office buildings managed by Xymax Group• Client companies of XYMAX INFONISTA Corporation

Effective
Responses

1,124 companies

GeographicalCoverage

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

Distribution

Either by email or questionnaire sheet

Response rate: 35％

New Ways of Working and Office
Companies' initiatives to allow employees to work any time and any place•

Progress in initiatives on new ways of working•

Progress on office strategy•

How the initiatives started•

What are the purposes

Use of Office Now and Year-on-Year Change•
TopicsCovered in
SurveyOffice layout and change(areas newly added or expanded / areas downsized or removed)•

Use of alternative workspaces and year-on-year change(workspaces newly added or expanded / workspaces downsized or removed)

Office strategy for new ways of working•

Office strategy intention•

Office strategy focus•

Concerns and obstacles

Company Profile•

Industry, place of headquarters, number of employees, year of incorporation

About the office•
Location, nearest station, leased area, number of office workers, rent per tsubo

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey 2016 – New Ways of Working and Office
All the contents are as of the date of this report. Xymax Corporation does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information herein.
Copying, quoting, forwarding, distributing, reprinting or any other use of this report is not allowed without prior permission from Xymax Real
Estate Institute Corporation.
Copyright © 2017 Xymax Corporation. All rights reserved.

12

RESEARCH REPORT｜Xymax Real Estate InstituteProfile of Respondent Companies(Upper row: %) (Lower row: number)

Industry
Telecommunications

Academic research /Professional or
technical service

13%

7%

7%

238
183
153
145
76
* Service industries that do not fall into any of the other sectors under the Japan Standard Industrial Classification.

75

Wholesale /RetailService*
21%

Manufacturing

16%

Real estate /Leasing of goods

14%

Financial /Insurance

Medical /WelfareUnclassified

Construction

Transportation /Postal service

Education /Learning support

5%

4%

3%

2%

2%

2%

61

45

39

22

21

19

Multi-service

Daily life services /business

Entertainment

Civil service(excl. those classified
to other sectors)

Accommodation /Electricity, Gas,

Mining / Quarry /Food & beverage

Heat, Water

Gravel extraction

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

0%

13

10

7

7

7

2

Agriculture /Forestry

All
0%

100％

1

1,124

Number of Employees
10 and below

11-50

51-100101-300

301-500

501-1,000

1,001+

All

14%

24%

10%

19%

7%

9%

16%

100％

161

273

118

212

77

105

178

1,124

Call center

ComputerroomType of Office
BranchofficeHead office

Sales officeSub-officeSatellite
office

Other

All

58%

27%

10%

2%

0%

0%

0%

2%

100％

650

300

118

18

4

3

3

28

1,124

Location of Office (Prefecture)
Tokyo

Osaka

Aichi

Fukuoka

Kanagawa

Saitama

Chiba

Other

All

60%

14%

8%

7%

7%

3%

1%

0%

100％

670

152

94

79

77

34

13

5

1,124

(1 tsubo = 3.3 sqm)
200 and
Up to 200
above

Not
answeredSize of Office under Lease Contract in tsubo
30 andbelow

Up to 50

Up to 100

All

18%

15%

22%

17%

23%

5%

100%

203

174

243

188

259

57

1,124

Graphs contained in this report• The sum of the rates may not be 100% in some cases because the rates are rounded to the second
decimal place. The sum of the rates of multiple answers is not 100%.

For questions on this report, please contact us.
Xymax Real Estate Institute
PHONE: +81 3 3596 1477 | FAX: +81 3 3596 1478 | Email: info-rei@xymax.co.jp

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand Survey 2016 – New Ways of Working and Office
All the contents are as of the date of this report. Xymax Corporation does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information herein.
Copying, quoting, forwarding, distributing, reprinting or any other use of this report is not allowed without prior permission from Xymax Real
Estate Institute Corporation.
Copyright © 2017 Xymax Corporation. All rights reserved.

13