By Rich Gottlieb, president and COO, Keystone Property Group While executives have differing perspectives on the future of remote work in a post-COVID-19 environment, most (52 percent) are targeting a return to the office in the second half of 2021, according to a recent survey of Fortune 500 executives. Based on the responses of survey participants, vaccine availability (51 percent) and improved COVID-19 therapeutics and treatment (14 percent) are the clear determining factors in their decisions to bring employees back. But changes to office space (13 percent), like onsite testing or temperature checks, also weigh heavily on their direction. The return is already happening. Data from a separate survey published in late March found that nearly a quarter of office-using employees are working at their office in 10 major U.S. cities. In New York City, some 80,000 municipal workers began staggered returns to their buildings on May 3. Major corporations are planning “soft reopenings” or hybrid-style returns. Proactive building owners need to be ahead of tenants in terms of preparing for post-pandemic concerns, implementing the latest industry standards and technologies and addressing overall health and safety requirements. This is not always easy, especially because the science of the coronavirus continues …
