RESEARCH REPORT

Metropolitan Areas Office Demand
Survey Autumn 2023
<Detailed Report>
More than 70% of companies continue to embrace hybrid work after the pandemic, leading to a trend toward office expansion.

January 18, 2024

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Survey Overview

1 tsubo = 3.33 sqm
Attributes of respondent companies

What impact do the long COVID-19 pandemic and its end have on the work
styles at Japanese companies and office demand?
Since autumn 2016, Xymax Real Estate Institute (“Xymax REI”) has been
conducting a semi-annual questionnaire survey of companies across Japan on
their office use and employee work styles to continuously analyze theirrelationship with office demand. This report covers the results of the 15thsurvey.
Survey period

November 15–26, 2023

Targetrespondents

48,049 companies in total that include the following:・Tenants of office buildings managed by the Xymax Group・Companies subscribing to ZXY, a satellite office service forcorporate customers
・Client companies of XYMAX INFONISTA Corporation

Number ofvalid answers

1,705(Aggregated in office units; therefore, answers from different
offices of the same company are treated as separate answers.)

Geographicalcoverage

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

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

2
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Main Findings
1.

Outlook of office demand (from P.4)●

The percentage of companies with an increase (31.2%) in office occupants over the past year exceeded the percentage of companies with a decrease (11.6%).

●

In terms of changes in office size over the past year, “expanded” (7.3%) exceeded “downsized” (5.3%) for the first time since the Autumn 2020 survey. The percentage of“expansion (actual + potential)” has also continued to rise since bottoming out in the Spring 2021 survey, with the DI, the difference between the expansion total and thedownsizing total, in positive territory at 4.8.
●

2.

Regarding office size, the percentage of “want to expand” (16.8%) outweighed that of “want to downsize” (7.5%).

Factors affecting office demand (from P.12)●

Regarding the coming-to-office ratio, the percentage of “100% (come to office full time)” was 25.2%, leveling off from the Spring 2023 survey when the percentage hit thehighest since the COVID-19 pandemic. In terms of future intentions, “100% (come to office full time)” was 25.1%, with the remaining 74.9% intending to continue
implementing telework. This suggests that telework will take root as a permanent work style even after the end of the pandemic.

●

29.5% of companies “reconsidered” their policies regarding coming to the office and teleworking when COVID-19 was downgraded to a Class 5 disease. 56.4% said they
had “no plans to reconsider.”●3.

29.6% of the companies felt their office was small, more than those who felt it was large (15.8%).

Work styles and the workplace (from P.19)●

72.2% of the companies said they thought workplaces strategies were “important” or “somewhat important” in terms of retaining talent and human capital management.

●

When comparing the existing space in companies’ current office with the Spring 2019 survey, ”fixed desks” (78.7%) decreased, while ”open meeting space” (57.2%) and“hot-desking” (44.0%) increased significantly, indicating that offices were becoming increasingly flexible.
●

40.8% of companies were “interested” in providing a workplace in the provinces (areas other than the current location of the head office). Especially popular initiatives were“develop/use a workation facility for temporary work at resorts, etc.” (50.7% of companies interested in providing a workplace in the provinces) and “use satellite officeservices in the provinces (temporarily or permanently)” (47.7%).

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The availability of a work-from-home policy was 44.9%, declining after its peak in the Autumn 2021 survey. The availability of a satellite office was 30.9%, rising each year.

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Many companies said work-related communication was in place even online. In particular, we found that nearly 80% of the companies have managed to maintaincommunication with external parties.

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34.4% of companies had the intention to use satellite offices in the future. Regarding the type of satellite office they wanted to use, the most popular was the “type where
private rooms and booths for individual work are shared with other companies” (60.0%).

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Regarding employee performance compared to before the pandemic, 17.0% of the companies said it had “improved,” more than those who said it had “declined” (10.7%).
Evaluation has improved over time, with the percentage of “declined” decreasing year by year.
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1. Outlook of office demand
1. Changes over the past year
2. Future intentions

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1.1. Changes over the past year

Ratio of companies with office occupant increase continues to rise after Spring 2021 bottom
Figure 1 (red frame) indicates the change in
the number of office occupants* over the pastyear.

Figure 1: Change in Number of Office Occupants

The percentage of companies with anincrease in office occupants was 31.2%, morethan the percentage of companies with adecrease (11.6%).
Compared to previous surveys, thepercentage of “increased” has been on arising trend since bottoming out in the Spring
2021 survey.
*The number of people belonging to the office,regardless of whether they come to the office or not

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1.1. Changes over the past year

For the first time since Autumn 2020, the percentage of companies that had expanded
their office size outnumbered those that had downsized
Regarding changes in office size over the
past year, the percentage of companies thathad “expanded” their office size was 7.3%,
more than the percentage of companies thathad “downsized” (5.3%) (Figure 2 (redframe)).

Figure 2: Change in Office Size

”Expanded” exceeded “downsized” for the
first time since the Autumn 2020 survey.

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1.1. Changes over the past year

“To improve comfort of office environment” and “not enough meeting rooms” increase as
reason for office size expansion
The most popular reason for office size
expansion was “increase in number ofpeople” (64.5%) (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Reason for Office Size Expansion”To improve comfort of office environment”(45.2%) and “not enough meeting rooms”(40.3%) increased significantly from theSpring 2023 survey, reaching record highs.

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1.1. Changes over the past year

“To cut costs” the top reason for office downsizing; “less space needed due to telework”
decreasing
The top reasons for office downsizing were“to cut office costs” (47.8%) and “less spaceneeded due to telework” (45.6%) (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Reason for Office Downsizing

However, “less space needed due totelework” has been decreasing since peaking
in the Spring 2022 survey, indicating that theoffice downsizing trend that gathered
momentum during the pandemic has abated.

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1.1. Changes over the past year

“Expansion (actual + potential)” increases after bottoming out in Spring 2021
Even if office size had unchanged over the
past year, when we add the percentage of“considering expansion” and the percentageof “considered but canceled or suspended” asthe percentage of “potential expansion,” thetotal “expansion (actual + potential)” came to
14.0% and has been rising since the Spring
2021 survey (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Actual + Potential Change in Office Size over Past Year

Similarly, the total “downsizing (actual +potential)” came to 9.2%, with the DI, thedifference between the expansion total andthe downsizing total, in positive territory at 4.8.
The downsizing trend that has persisted since
the COVID-19 pandemic appears to havesubsided and shifted to an expansionary
phase.

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1.1. Changes over the past year

14.3% of companies saw rent per tsubo increase, outnumbering those that saw a decrease
In terms of changes in rent per tsubo over the
past year, 14.3% of companies experienced
an increase, outweighing companies thatexperienced a decrease (1.8%). However, thedifference between the two has shrunkcompared to before the pandemic (Figure 6(red frame)).

Figure 6: Change in Rent per Tsubo

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1.2. Future intentions“Want to expand” office size increasing, albeit not as much as before the pandemic
The percentage of companies that “want toexpand” their office size in the future (up to 2–
3 years ahead) was 16.8%, outweighing thepercentage of companies that “want todownsize” (7.5%) (Figure 7 (red frame)).

Figure 7: Future Change in Office Size

The percentage of “want to expand” has been
increasing over the years after bottoming out
in the Spring 2021 survey. However, thepercentage has not returned to pre-pandemic(before the Spring 2019 survey) levels, which
is probably due in part to the fact that hybrid
work has taken root.

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2. Factors affecting office demand
1. Coming-to-office ratio
2. Percentage of desks, impression of office size, business sentiment

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2.1. Coming-to-office ratio

74.9% of companies intend to continue implementing telework even after end of pandemic
With a 100% coming-to-office ratio meaning
all employees coming to the office, we asked
companies’ current average coming-to-officeratio (actual) and future coming-to-officeratio (intention) (Figure 8).

Figure 8: Actual and Intended Coming-to-Office Ratio

Regarding the actual ratio, while 25.2% of thecompanies replied “100% (come to office fulltime),” 20.2% kept their ratio at less than 40%.
Regarding future intentions, “100% (come tooffice full time)” was 25.1%, with theremaining 74.9% intending to continue
implementing telework. This suggests thattelework will take root as a permanent work
style even after the end of the pandemic.
12.1% of all companies (n=1,705) said their
future intention was to “leave it to employees;
will not set a specific percentage,” a slightincrease from the Spring 2023 survey(11.4%).
*The average figure was calculated from the median figureof the range of each choice: 5% for “1%–9%,” 14.5% for“10%–19%,” 24.5% for “20%–29%,” etc.

13
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2.1. Coming-to-office ratio

Coming-to-office ratio of “100% (come to office full time)” at 25.2%, leveling off after
COVID-19’s downgrade to Class 5
We divided the coming-to-office ratio (actual
and intention) of Figure 8 into five levels: 0%(telework full time), 1%–39% (telework),
40%–59% (roughly equal), 60%–99% (cometo office), and 100% (come to office full time),
and compared the results with previous
surveys (Figure 9).

Figure 9: Actual and Intended Coming-to-Office Ratio (Comparison over Time)

Regarding the actual ratio, “100% (come tooffice full time)” rose to its highest level since
the pandemic, 25.7%, in the Spring 2023
survey, which was conducted immediately
after COVID-19 was downgraded to a Class 5
disease. This time, it has leveled off at 25.2%.
Similarly for the intended ratio, “100% (cometo office full time)” leveled off from the Spring
2023 survey at 25.1%.

The average figure* hardly differs between
the actual (70.8%) and the intention (71.0%),
indicating that the current state is alreadyclose to the intended state.

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2.1. Coming-to-office ratio

30% of companies reconsidered coming-to-office and telework policies after COVID19 downgrade to Class 5
When we asked companies whether theyreconsidered their policies regarding coming
to the office and teleworking after COVID-19
was downgraded to a Class 5 disease, 29.5%
said they “reconsidered,” while 56.4% said
they had “no plans to reconsider” (Figure 10).

Figure 10: Reconsideration of Coming-to-Office Policy after COVID-19 Downgrade to Class 5 Disease

While some predict that companies will
resume their pre-pandemic work styles
following a break in the long-running
pandemic, nearly 60% of the companies had
not actually changed work styles.
When examining companies’ current comingto-office ratio by status of reconsidering theircoming-to-office policy, only 14.7% ofcompanies that reconsidered their policy had
a 100% coming-to-office ratio, indicating thatthe end of the pandemic does not necessarily
result in a return to the office (Figure 11).

Figure 11: Actual Coming-to-Office Ratio – By Status of Reconsidering Coming-to-Office Policy

Meanwhile, 32.3% of the companies with “noplans to reconsider” had a 100% coming-tooffice ratio, suggesting that these companies
include a certain number of companies that
did not implement teleworking or othermeasures during the pandemic.
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2.1. Coming-to-office ratio

Many companies are formulating hybrid work rules as the pandemic abates
When we asked companies in an open-ended question the details of reconsidering their policies concerning coming to the office and teleworking (Figure 10), while some
shifted their policy to have employees return to the office (e.g., “Now requiring employees to come to the office as a rule,” “Abolished the work-from-home policy”), many
companies are formulating teleworking rules on this occasion, indicating that companies are not necessarily embracing a complete return to the office.
In answers such as “We began to think of work styles that accommodate the changing times and circumstances” and “We are facilitating a shift to actively use both onsite work and remote work,” we also saw how the pandemic and its end have prompted companies to reconsider their work styles. The following are excerpts of answers.

[Reference] Specific reconsiderations following the downgrade to Class 5 (open-ended question; excerpt)
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We made telework an official program after adopting it on a tentative basis during the pandemic.
We changed the positioning of telework from a “COVID response” to a “work-life balance
response.”
We changed our system to require all employees to come to the office on the monthly “return tooffice” day (at the start of the month).
We recommend departments to arbitrarily set a date to come to work.
We have enabled employees to choose from “come to the office,” ”work from home,” and “cometo the office and work from home.”
We changed our instructions from “work from home as much as possible” to “maximize your work
output.”In preparation for another emergency even after the pandemic has abated, those whose work
involves visiting customers will continue teleworking, and clerical staff will also continue
teleworking in shifts. We will also explore ways to cut costs.
We limited working from home to one day per week after the shift to Class 5, changed it to twodays per week, and now allow it without limits in special circumstances.
Working from home was once abolished but is being reconsidered to allow to some degree.
We will reconstruct the standards by conducting a factual investigation to resolve complaints anddissatisfactions among employees concerning the difference in the coming-to-office ratio
between departments. Specifically, if employees want to work from home but are not able to, wewill examine the issue. If they do not want to do so but feel a sense of unfairness in the system,
we will examine the cause, review payment standards for transportation expenses for commuting,and consider work-from-home allowances.
We signed up for a shared office space, relieving us from having to return to the office from
customer visits.

Details of teleworking rules● Abolished the 50% limit on the coming-to-office ratio. Individuals
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have discretion over coming to the office or working from home.
Advance application of monthly schedules is required.
Start of teleworking now possible three months after hire versus
one year previously.
Working from home requires permission depending on theemployee’s skills and experience.
Established guidelines for the number of days that employees
come to the office (twice a week, come to office 50% per month).
Employees must come to office one day per week; they can work
flexibly for the remaining four days.
Set rules to come to the office at least one day per week.
Mandated weekly department meetings that require everyone tocome to the office.
Revised the coming-to-office ratio from 30% to around 60%
depending on the department.
Increased the number of days for management staff to come tothe office.
Added employees’ parents’ homes as telework locations, inaddition to their own homes.

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

29.6% feel office is “very small” or “somewhat small”
We calculated the percentage of desks thatcompanies provided to their office occupants
based on the number of office occupants anddesks at the time of the survey and grouped
the results into “less than 100%,” “100%,” and“more than 100%” (Figure 12).
Companies with desks for “more than 100%”of office occupants accounted for the most(51.8%), while companies with desks for “lessthan 100%” of office occupants accounted for
21.9%.

Figure 12: Percentage of Desks to Office Occupants

Figure 13: Impression of Office Size

As for how companies felt about the size of
their current office, 29.6% replied they felt
their office was either “very small” or“somewhat small,” while 15.8% felt it was“very large” or “somewhat large” (Figure 13(red frame)).

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

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

Business sentiment DI remained positive at 2.4, continuing from the previous survey
Figure 14 shows the business sentiment DI,
which is the sum of the percentages of “good”
and “somewhat good” business sentiments(for own company) minus the sum of thepercentages of “bad” and “somewhat bad”
sentiments based on a five-scale rating of“good,” “somewhat good,” “neither good nor
bad,” “somewhat bad,” and “bad.”

Figure 14: Business Sentiment

In this survey, the sum of “good” and“somewhat good” was 29.3%, and that of“bad” and “somewhat bad” was 26.9%.
The business sentiment DI remained positiveat 2.4, continuing from the Spring 2023
survey when it first turned positive after theoutbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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3. Work styles and the workplace
1. Workplace strategies and the main office
2. Work styles and telework

3. Evaluation compared to before the pandemic

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3.1. Workplace strategies and the main officeMore than 70% of companies place importance on workplace strategies for humancapital management
When asked whether workplace strategies*
were important in retaining talent and humancapital management, more than 70% of thecompanies said they thought they were
“important” or “somewhat important” (Figure
15).

Figure 15: Attitude Toward Workplace Strategies in Retaining Talent and Human Capital Management*Strategies for the entire workplace, including not
only the development of the main officeenvironment but also the establishment of telework
locations20© Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

3.1. Workplace strategies and the main office“Fixed desks” decreased from before the pandemic; offices becoming more flexible
Figure 16 shows the existing space incompanies’ current offices in comparison withthe pre-pandemic Spring 2019 survey.

Figure 16: Existing Space in Current Office (in Rented Office Area)

While “fixed desks” (78.7%) decreased byapprox. 16 points, “open meeting space”(57.2%) and “hot-desking” (44.0%) increased
significantly, suggesting that offices havebecome more flexible after the pandemic.
”Booth or private room for remote meetings,”
which has been increasing in presence since
the pandemic, accounted for 40.1%,
indicating that it is being adopted by many
companies.

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3.1. Workplace strategies and the main office

Companies placing importance on workplace strategies are interested in advancing
the functions of their main office
When we asked each respondent group of
Figure 15 (attitude toward workplacestrategies in retaining talent and humancapital management) their initiative of interestfor the main office, we found that the groupthat considered workplace strategies to be“important” tended to have a higher interest ineach initiative (Figure 17).

Figure 17: Initiative of Interest for the Main Office – By Attitude Toward Workplace Strategies

The difference was especially large ininitiatives such as “place emphasis on
creating a place for communication orfunctions for congregating” and “increaseprivate rooms and booths for remotemeetings.”
In contrast, the group that considered
workplace strategies as “not important” had ahigher percentage of “maintain status quo” forthe main office. This indicates that companies
recognizing the importance of workplacestrategies are more interested in advancing
the functions of their main office.

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3.1. Workplace strategies and the main office“How to consider the optimal office layout” increased as a problem or issue
Figure 18 shows a comparison over the yearsof the problems and issues with reconsidering
workplace strategies.

Figure 18: Problems and Issues with Reconsidering Workplace Strategies”Difficult to control/optimize coming-to-officeratio” (31.5%), which ranked top in the
Autumn 2022 survey, dropped by 11.5 points
and was replaced by “how to consider the
optimal office layout” (41.0%), which grew by
9.3 points. This suggests that companies areturning their attention to how to use their main
office following the spread of hybrid work,
which combines coming to the office andteleworking.
”Gap between management reluctant to have
employees telework and employees wishing
to telework” (28.2%) also increased slightly.

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3.1. Workplace strategies and the main office

40% are interested in providing a workplace in the provinces; top initiative is develop/use
a workation facility
When we asked the companies the initiative
they were interested in concerning providing
a workplace in the provinces,* 40.8% of allcompanies said they were “interested” in atleast one of the initiatives. This was a slightincrease from the Autumn 2022 survey(36.9%) (Figure 19).
Especially popular initiatives were“develop/use a workation facility for
temporary work at resorts, etc.” (50.7%) and“use satellite office services in the provinces(temporarily or permanently)” (47.7%),
indicating that around half of the companies
interested in providing a workplace in theprovinces have interest in these initiatives(Figure 20).

Figure 19: Interest in Initiatives for Providing a Workplace in the Provinces

Figure 20: Initiative of Interest for Providing a Workplace in the Provinces*Areas other than the current location of the head office・24© Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

3.2. Work styles and telework

A place or policy for employees to telework is available at approx. 60% of companies
58.4% of the companies replied that at least
one of the following three initiatives fortelework was available: Work-from-homepolicy; a satellite office, etc. provided by aspecialized operator, etc.; and a satellite
office, etc. owned or rented by own company(Figure 21 (red frame)).

Figure 21: Availability of Place or Policy for Telework

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3.2. Work styles and telework

Availability of work-from-home policy decreasing; availability of satellite offices risingeach year
The availability of a work-from-home policy
has been decreasing after peaking in the
Autumn 2021 survey, dropping to 44.9% thistime (Figure 22).

Figure 22: Availability of Work-from-Home Policy and Satellite Office

On the other hand, the availability of satellite
offices has been rising each year, this time to
30.9%.

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3.2. Work styles and telework

Work-from-home policy: Gap between eligible employees and actual users
We asked companies with a work-from-homepolicy (Figure 22) the percentage of
employees eligible for the policy and thepercentage of employees actually using thepolicy (users). Figure 23 shows the
distribution of the percentages.

Figure 23: Percentage of Eligible Employees (Top) and Actual Users (Bottom) of Work-from-Home
PolicyAs much as 43.9% of the companies repliedthat “100%” of their employees were eligible,
indicating that they are the majority among
companies with a work-from-home policy. On
the other hand, only 18.0% of the companies
replied that “100%” of their employees wereusers, which indicates that there is a gap
between eligible employees and actual users.

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3.2. Work styles and telework

Companies increasingly provide satellite offices, but there is room for growth in actual use
We asked companies with a satellite office(Figure 22) the percentage of eligible
employees and the percentage of employees
actually using it (users). Figure 24 shows the
distribution of the percentages.

Figure 24: Percentage of Eligible Employees (Top) and Users (Bottom) of Satellite Offices

The largest number of companies (28.7%)
replied that “100%” of their employees were
eligible. However, only 6.9% of thecompanies replied that “100%” of theiremployees were users, with around 40% ofcompanies saying only “0%–9%” of
employees were actual users. These results
suggest that companies with a satellite officeenvironment but few actual users have roomfor user growth.

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3.2. Work styles and telework

Communication for business execution “in place” even online at a majority of companies
We asked the companies to rate fivecommunication-related situations on a scaleof “agree” to “disagree.” Figure 25-1 shows
the results for online communication, andFigure 25-2 shows the results for offline
communication.
Figure 25-1 indicates that work-related
communication is in place even online at amajority of companies, with, in particular,
nearly 80% saying communication withexternal parties is in place.

Figure 25-1: Situation Regarding Communication (Online)

Figure 25-2: Situation Regarding Communication (Offline)

On the other hand, Figure 25-2 shows that
not a few companies face challenges withoffline communication. In particular, 45.1% of
the companies replied that they “agree”* in“communication between employees in theoffice and teleworking employees is scarce,”
indicating that this is an issue that should be
addressed in the future.
*The sum of “agree” and “agree somewhat”

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3.2. Work styles and telework

Keywords of communication issues: “Interdepartmental,” “new employee training,”“interpersonal differences”
When we asked companies in an open-ended question their current communication issues, comments that were especially common included “scarce interdepartmental
communication,” “training of new/young employees,” and “interpersonal differences in awareness.” The following are some excerpts of the answers.
A certain number of respondents said they did not face any issues (e.g., “Currently there are no issues, since we have established a task force aimed at facilitating
communication,” “Efficiency has improved as we have managed to hold regular meetings online”) or that communication issues were not related to telework (e.g., Those
who do not take the initiative to communicate do not do so whether they are in the office or teleworking,” “The issue is how to convince management who assume that
communication is difficult when teleworking”).

[Reference] Current communication issues (open-ended question; excerpt)
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There is no place for interdepartmental communication.
The office has minimal space and no space or opportunity for communicatingwith other departments.
There have been no significant changes within the team, but trial and error
continues in communicating with other teams and communicating outside ofwork, as the impact of teleworking is significant.
Information sharing is scarce, since those working in physical stores, thosemainly teleworking, and those working in the head office act individually.
It may take time for new members to become familiar with existing members.
I feel it is difficult to train new employees without face-to-face contact.
It is taking some time for mid-career employees to get up to speed.
I don’t know the faces and names of the young employees who joined thecompany after the pandemic broke out, so I cannot even greet them when I
pass them in the hallway.
Those with low communication skills who cannot act independently are notsuited for remote work, but it is hard to tell at the time of the interview.
Camaraderie seems to be less than it used to be, but I’m no longer sure of
the necessity of camaraderie in the first place.
We have exchange meetings during work hours to encouragecommunication, but they are not working that well.

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Gatherings outside of work (e.g., drinking parties) have decreased significantly,
and I am wondering how we should respond in the future, since each employee
has a different attitude toward such things.
There is a generational divide between the Show Generation and Generation Z
due to different attitudes toward communication.
Communication varies between people since some people are proficient inusing online tools while others are not.
IT literacy is generally low among the manager class at the sales sites, resulting
in mainly telephone and email communication instead of online tools.
Chat communication is good in the sense that it leaves evidence, but attention
should be paid to appropriate wording.
When there is more than one person on the other end of a business meetingwith a customer, it is hard to follow up on someone with a frown.
It has become hard to elicit the counterparty’s needs through small talk within or
outside the company.
There are situations where it lacks speed.
While almost all employees come to the office, managers continue to work from
home, resulting in lack of communication with those in such ranks. Conference
tools are in place, but the atmosphere is not one where you can easily ask
managers to make time for you.
30
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3.2. Work styles and telework

Initiatives such as “Addressing changes to work due to AI (e.g., ChatGPT)” are expected
to increase in the future
Figure 26 shows the percentage of work styleinitiatives currently available at the companies
combined with the percentage of initiatives
not currently available but that companies
intend to implement in the future (“unavailable
but intended for the future”).
Of the top initiatives, those unavailable but
intended for the future include “paperlessdocuments and books,” “flextime program,”and “supporting employees’ skill improvement,
self-learning, recurrent education.”

Figure 26: Work Style Initiatives

・・Advanced initiatives with low current
availability, such as “employee satisfaction(ES) surveys,” “addressing changes to work
due to AI (e.g., ChatGPT),” and “a program
enabling to work even if living far from officelocation, e.g., rural areas,” are expected to
grow in availability in the future as theirpercentages of “unavailable but intended forthe future” are more than 10%.

31
© Xymax Real Estate Institute Corporation. All rights reserved.

3.2. Work styles and telework

34.4% of companies want to introduce a satellite office in the future
Figure 27 shows the initiative concerning theplace or policy for telework that companies
want to implement in the future (up to 1–2
years ahead), regardless of the current
situation.

Figure 27: Initiatives Concerning the Place or Policy for Telework Companies Want to Implement

While intentions to introduce a work-fromhome policy, which is currently in place in
44.9% of the companies, have decreased to38.3%, intentions to introduce a satellite officehas increased to 34.4%, slightly higher than
the actual availability rate.

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

3.2. Work styles and telework“Type where private rooms and booths for individual work are shared with othercompanies” is popular
We asked the companies that want to use asatellite office in the future (Figure 24) theirpreferred type of satellite office (Figure 28).

Figure 28: Preferred Type of Satellite Office

As in the previous survey, the most popular
was the “type where private rooms andbooths for individual work are shared withother companies” (60.0%). The “exclusive
type used only by employees of one’s
company” (39.5%) and the “type where
meeting rooms for multiple people are sharedwith other companies” (39.2%) also gained acertain amount of popularity.

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

3.2. Work styles and telework

Reasons for wanting to use a satellite office include “to reduce commute time” and “tocompensate for disadvantages of working from home”
Figure 29 shows the reasons for wanting touse a satellite office.

Figure 29: Reason for Wanting to Use a Satellite Office in the Future

The top reasons were “to reduce employees’commute/travel time” (59.3%), “tocompensate for disadvantages of working
from home (e.g., difficulty in concentrating,family in same house, house too small)”(47.7%), and “to improve employees’ work-lifebalance (39.4%).

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

3.3. Evaluation compared to before the pandemic

Percentage of employee performance decline from before the pandemic is decreasing
each year
We asked companies to rate their “employee
performance,” “employee well-being,” and“talent retention (new hiring, turnover
reduction)” compared to before the pandemic.
The majority of respondents
said ”unchanged” for each of these items(Figure 30).

Figure 30: Current Evaluation Compared to Before COVID-19 Pandemic

For “employee performance” and “employee
well-being,” “improved”*1 outweighed“declined.”*2
Figure 31 shows the results of companies’
evaluation of “employee performance”
compared to previous surveys.
In the Autumn 2023 survey, the “improved”
total was 17.0%, while the “declined” total
was 10.7%. The percentage of “declined” isdecreasing each year. This is likely to berelated to the fact that companies that
introduced telework in response to thepandemic have improved the work
environment and their employees haveadapted to the work style, resulting in the newwork style becoming established.

Figure 31: Current “Employee Performance” Evaluation Compared to Before COVID-19 Pandemic(Comparison over Time)*1 Sum of “improved” and “improved somewhat”*2 Sum of “declined” and “declined somewhat”

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