Death of the HQ? Pandemic hits commercial real estate, but long-term trends still open to debate

“HQ’s are finished.”
That was the hot take this week from Chris Herd, founder and CEO of remote work setup startup Firstbase. After speaking with about 1,000 companies over the past six months, he estimates that many will be cutting their office space by as much as 40% to 60%. About 90% of workforces indicated that they “never want to be in an office again full-time,” he wrote.
The latest example of the trend is the news this morning that working from home will be a permanent part of the mix at Microsoft. Boosting access to talent, reducing costs, and quality of life were among the benefits of remote work cited by companies in Herd’s informal survey.
“Good thread on the future of work. I agree with him,” former Zillow Group CEO Spencer Rascoff chimed in