Human capital overrides cost in driving corporate real estate strategy, according to CBRE

Around two-thirds of occupiers rank employee engagement (68%) and talent attraction & development (65%) as being two of the three most important drivers of corporate real estate (CRE) strategy, even ahead of cost-reduction. This is according to the 2019 EMEA Occupier Survey published today by global real estate advisor CBRE.

The report demonstrates that people are becoming more important than ever as drivers of real estate decisions. In last year’s survey cost-reduction was the single most important driver of CRE strategy and employee engagement was fourth but this year, cost reduction has dropped to fourth, employee engagement is second and talent attraction & development is third. In this context, optimising human capital is becoming the overriding aim of occupiers’ property decisions.

Over a third of companies see labour and skills shortages as a key strategic challenge, double last year’s result. In line with last year’s survey, technology disruption (36%) economic uncertainty (43%) and cost escalation (31%) all feature highly as key challenges for occupiers.
The survey identifies four major levers through which companies are seeking to use real estate as a way of influencing and enhancing their appeal to skilled labour, these include: