Work From Home (WFH) programs -- demand destruction?

Frankly, I think this may increase demand for Manhattan RE. There are several tenants in my building that work from home and moved here when that flexibility was made an option for them. What better place to be a WFH candidate? Lots of hot spots, take your laptop to Starbux, the park, etc. I don't see this having a tremendous impact in either direction.

Telecommuting is not new, as you point out, but it seems (from all the people I've talked to) to be much more an academic idea than a reality. Managers are too controlling to ever get comfortable with the idea, and the one place I know of that encouraged it got a new president a short time later, who did a total 180 and virtually disallowed it.

What industry is your friend in? What type of work ... sales?

A family member works for a government agency in NYC. His entire department (about 40 people) was told to start working from home four years ago. They were issued laptops & cell phones and the agency set up a daily voice and internet check-in and sign-out system. Managerial oversight is by voice and internet communication. The department maintains a small physical presence in the agency's rented office building -- a few cubicles, the department head's office, a secretary and a conference room. Employees are required to attend dept meetings twice a month at the office. Otherwise, they work from home and in the field. The agency was able to give up a floor of its rented space in the building. The arrangement has worked very well.

I having been seeing this kind of arrangement more frequently in the past few years. When "teleworking" (the latest PC term for telecommuting) came on the scene, there were lots and lots of rules, but things have been more relaxed of late. Companies that offer it have found most of their employees don't abuse it. It's not for every company or every employee but it works under appropriate circumstances, with the right safeguards in place.

CRE, RRE, EE? If you want to be understood, you might try ENGLISH.

I work for a large technology company and we have close to 40% of our employees "OTTO." ("Other than traditional office.") It's just smart business. And most employees are delighted.

Just part of the evolution of the workplace.

Real estate implications? Modestly negative for commercial real estate - but keep in mind that supply and demand adjust fairly quickly to this New Normal. Modestly postive for residential real estate as a nice home office becomes more and more important. But here too, supply and demand adjust fairly quickly.

All in all, I see this as a win-win. Lots of flexibility. I'm generally in the office but I'm "OTTO" today - I commute and who needs the traffic today?

Wow, I would LOVE to work from home. Why not provide some employers names?

I've worked for companies that had a few employees 'telecommute' from out-of-state locations.

"Frankly, I think this may increase demand for Manhattan RE. ...What better place to be a WFH candidate?"

Who would want to spend a steamy summer in NYC (this year notwithstanding) if you could work from anywhere in the nation/world ? And I'm sure many people would prefer warmer climates in the winter, or alternatively, prefer mountain air and white powdery snow as opposed to wet, gray slush. If a large percentage of people could work from home, then there would be a LOT of 'New Yorkers' who are telecommuting from places far from Manhattan.

Encouraging WFH and "hoteling" is a trend that's here to stay. My employer (global company with 50,000+ employees) is selectively trying it out in various locations and I have to say that it's working quite well for employees judging how empty the office is today. It's increasingly easy to work away from the office and to do it productively, although a number of technologies that we as consumers may take for granted (instant messaging, video chat, even IP telephony) are not immediately available at large companies, especially ones with strict security and compliance restrictions and existing investments in old-school technology (telephony, in particular).

How does this change the demand for RR -- in my view, commercial RE suffers, but the impact on residential RE is unclear. One might argue that it forces people to leave Manhattan since they now have to accommodate both living and working needs from home. Those who need a bigger place need not just an extra bedroom, but perhaps an extra maid's room to use as an office. One would think that this makes the city / suburbs calculus skewed in favor of the suburbs, since these extra rooms can be purchased for much less outside the city. Then again, where would one want to use newly reclaimed leisure time -- those who prefer the city lifestyle have one more reason to stay... All in all, I'm unclear, but my next home, hopefully an apartment in the city, will likely have a dedicated office area, even if it means sacrificing a closet :-)