The Property Forum 2022 organised in Prague on May 10 is one of the leading property-related events in the Czech Republic. The event featured the most respected experts of the property market. One of the most popular panel discussion’s participants, besides other famous experts, was Libor Holik, CEO of B+N Referencia Zrt. Czech Republic and Slovakia. The title of the discussion was ‘Flexible and Digital – The Office of the Future’.
The participants of the discussion agreed that these are the two key factors having a decisive impact on the future of the office market as well as the relationship between tenants and service providers. And these two things are closely related.
Libor Holik (B+N): this is not only evolution, it is revolution
Libor Holik highlighted: what you experience today in this industry is not evolution, i.e. not development, but revolution. Just like any other industry in the world, the office market is changing at a high pace. Technology, including digitalization, must basically be about people, for these days there is no doubt that manpower is what matters the most everywhere.
Unfortunately, the war has an influence on the office market as well. However, increasing utility costs have the most drastic instant impact, although they may have positive effects as well: tenants tend to pay more attention to environmentally-friendly solutions.
The majority of Czech employees have returned to their offices
Regarding the future, the most burning question is still this: How can we bring people back to the office? The opinion of the panel members is that flexibility is the key here: it depends on the people’s attitude, age and the industry the company is engaged in.
According to Libor Holik, the majority of Czech companies have already brought their employees back to the office. Multinational companies are, however, binding their time. So, hybrid work is going to stay with us for a good while. He is certain that efficient work is going to be more important in the future than having everybody sitting in the office from 9 to 5. Notwithstanding, the CEO of B+N Czech Republic and Slovakia is optimistic: he would like to see a lot of offices filled with satisfied employees in 5 years’ time.