Demand for office perks drives building upgrades
The contest for excellent staff is driving building upgrades across the business districts, with major developers using the lure of ultra-modern offices to win over the next generation of workers.
Developers have added new concepts such as wellness centres to their offices and the focus is now on adding personal perks to keep them satisfied, CBRE’s latest occupier survey report said.
CBRE Pacific’s head of workplace strategy, Nicole Fitzgerald, says tenant demands and expectations of the workplace have evolved, with workplace amenity and employee perks growing in importance.
The company surveyed 272 office occupiers across Australia and found added perks were becoming as important as more traditional workplace amenity.
Sixty-nine per cent of respondents identified amenity as an important factor when choosing head office accommodation and 47 per cent indicated perks informed this decision-making.
Fitzgerald says the availability of perks such as meditation, education seminars, wine tasting and volunteering opportunities was seen as an important driver in choosing a suitable landlord, while only 6% of respondents thought their building manager was adequately delivering these initiatives.
CBRE’s national director of client solutions, Suzette Lamont, says the response signals a gap between the occupier demand for perks and how these perks were actually being delivered.
“An opportunity exists for landlords to fill the perk void with a well-curated program of events and initiatives that resonates with their buildings’ communities,” Lamont says.
Amenities included end-of-trip facilities, cafes and shared gardens. Perks that could be offered included wellness initiatives like on-site gyms, exercise classes, healthy food options, along with giving staff access to programs such as running groups and learning opportunities.
Lamont says while some landlords would be put off by the difficulty in measuring return on investment, the key was engaging with building communities to best satisfy their needs.
“Landlords that utilise advanced analytics will be able to better support and engage with occupiers in tracking and improving productivity and space optimisation,” Fitzgerald says.
