Workplace strategies in a fast-growing market

Abstract

In 2010, many occupiers in some of Asia's largest economic centres were confronted with an economic recovery whose speed and strength exceeded expectations. At that time, many enterprises, still reeling from 2008's global economic crisis, welcomed the growth opportunities that the Asia-Pacific region presented. But business enterprises would soon realise that renewed economic growth and business opportunities would be accompanied by significant operations and real estate challenges. Following a precipitous decline in office demand over 2009, by 2010, Grade A office markets in many of Asia Pacific's major business centres began to see a sharp recovery. High absorption, accelerating rental growth and rapidly falling vacancy rates quickly became the norm across the region. As a result, corporate occupiers seeking to establish or expand operations in major business centres such as Beijing and Shanghai were finding increasing difficulty in securing reasonably priced, contiguous, prime-submarket office space. Notably tight conditions have become commonplace in fast-growing markets across Asia. Consequently, in this paper, the author recommends a five-step approach to managing the workplace environment in a cost-effective way.