Workspace 4.0 will no longer have narrow offices in skyscrapers. Instead, the office model appears many types with wide floor, fully equipped with technology facilities, combining green parks, cafes and especially high sharing properties. What advantages the office rental market will have in the context of technology 4.0 "boom" and spirit of entrepreneurship in Vietnam? How the traditional office model change to survive and develop? Weekend Coffee will discuss about this topic. Welcome the experts to the scene: Mr. Stephen Wyatt, General Director of JLL Vietnam; Ms. Do Thu Hang, Deputy Director of Savills, Hanoi Research - Consulting Department; Ms. Nguyen Hoai An, Director of CBRE Hanoi branch.

Reporter: How do experts assess the office leasing trend in Vietnam in the context of the "booming" technology revolution?

Mr. Stephen Wyatt: The office is gradually changing by improvements in technology and data. Specifically, this real estate product changes according to 5 main trends. The first is the application of data science to gain advantage. Smart sensors and systems increasingly appear in office buildings to measure building's performance.

In the future, these devices will continue to grow more in the workplace, contributing to improving operational efficiency as well as creating large volumes of data for the office. This data will assist users in reasonable spatial layout and help improve business efficiency. Companies need to manage their data reasonably and analyze information effectively.

The second is the introduction of technology into workplace strategies. As by 2020, the number of internet-connected devices is expected to increase to 20 billion, emerging technologies such as virtual reality (VR) will start participating in some top competitive workspaces. In the next 10 years, computing innovations will change the style of work. Meanwhile, the application of devices such as smart phones will facilitate the management of human resources and affect the behavior of workers. Working remotely will become easier thanks to the 5G high-speed network connection and fiber-optic cable.

Companies should conduct experiments, apply smart technologies to improve work experience for employees, as well as ensure the best security system.

Third, improving the user experience is becoming an increasingly important element in workplace design. Offices are offered a variety of food and drinks, equipped with a gym, and entertainment spaces are becoming more and more popular as companies compete to attract talent.

In addition, the last two mentioned trends of office change are utilities and health care, welfare factors for employees.

Specifically, the office should be designed appropriately, cost-effective, especially nurseries, creative and modern spaces will be a core part of real estate and innovation strategy.

Smart and more optimal designed building will help to improve the atmosphere in the building, take advantage of natural light and create a dynamic, productive working environment.

Currently, only Ho Chi Minh City there are technology companies or new tech-base companies are leasing offices, accounting for 16% of the market, the highest in ASEAN. The group of technology tenants and special startups prefer the prevailing Coworking model. The size of the coworking space market is expanding rapidly in recent years, bringing the total area to more than 3.7 million sqm in 14 major cities in the Asia Pacific region.

Ms. Nguyen Hoai An, Director of CBRE Hanoi: Recently, a remarkable phenomenon of the office market is the emergence of coworking space that are gradually changing structure of traditional office tenants. According to data collected by CBRE in 2018, transactions of coworking space accounted for the highest proportion with 22% of the total.

The rapid increase in supply in this market has helped solve the "workplace" issues of many startups, small and medium enterprises, freelancers or even big companies and corporations.

The explosion of coworking space is also directly proportional to the operation situation of this model. In the fourth quarter of 2018, the average occupancy rate of the coworking space in HCM city reached approximately 80%. The supply of coworking space is expected to increase in 2019. Similarly, in Hanoi, the coworking space has emerged as a major source of demand. These tenants account for 31% of rental transactions over 1,000sqm.

Reporter: Companies and corporations today have been changing their office model from traditional closed models to dynamic office design models, smart office in the near future. As your opinion, how should traditional offices change to survive?

Ms. Do Thu Hang: The born of coworking space will make the traditional office more flexible. In the near future, the traditional office must consider creating space not only working, but also optimizing, creating more meditation corners, yoga...

Many buildings, even in the same building, will have areas for sharing office, meeting all tenants, every segment, but they do not operate themselves, the parties like Toong, WeWork, CoGo will organize, based on the brand being built.

To catch up with the trend, I think that it is necessary to have a long-term view, investors must also consider a flexibility in the rental structure and price to ensure the best performance. In addition, the office service element is very important, especially grade A office buildings. Accordingly, each office building will not simply be a workplace but also a general service provider such as supermarket, coffee shop, playroom for children...

For foreign business customers, when choosing a location to rent, they often care about the level of management units. Therefore, investors should also choose professional teams to manage their buildings.

Mr. Stephen Wyatt: By 2030, the office will become the working locations of staff, short-term workers and groups of professionals who regularly travel. Therefore, the office should be designed appropriately, cost-effective, especially nurseries. Creative and modern spaces will be a core part of real estate innovation strategy.

The number of projects in a company's real estate portfolio will also be affected. The portfolio should be appropriately arranged with core locations in strategic locations to attract partners, customers, staff and contribute to attracting talents.

In addition, companies will be more dependent on the speed and adaptability of communication networks, optimal connectivity will become the main competitive advantage and play an important role in providing water and electricity, gas, and is one of the main factors in decisions about location and real estate options

Meanwhile, the gloomy, stuffy office spaces will not be good choices for the workplace. The rise of smart buildings, more optimal designs can help improve the quality of the atmosphere in the building, take advantage of natural light and create a dynamic working environment that will strongly impact productivity, sustainability and well-being for both companies and employees.

Ms. Nguyen Hoai An: A survey by CBRE showed that about 50% of tenants expected to need less traditional office space in the future and look for higher quality spaces to encourage collaboration, innovation and increased employee welfare. Accordingly, the need to integrate a coworking space model in traditional office buildings also appeared due to the needs of tenants. However, the application of a coworking space model in the building requires building owners to consider the profit factor and the working culture.

Reporter: Similarly, how do new office models also need to be developed to be competitive?

Ms. Do Thu Hang: Some people may be skeptical about coworking space's rapid growth, but it is clear that this model has been meeting an unsatisfactory demand in the office market. Contrary to the large number of small and medium-sized enterprises and startups, the number of shared work spaces is now a very small part of office leasing, indicating an opportunity for this model to develop more. Accordingly, coworking space undoubtedly develops in compliance with economic cycles and changes, to match changes in the working style of the new generation of workers.

Ms. Nguyen Hoai An: If rental utilities are considered "hardware", then the "software" of a coworking space is a positive interaction among members. To create this added value, the person who manages a coworking space often has to know the information, connect the members when he sees the possibility of cooperation between them through common events.

Technological reforms have changed the demand for office use from traditional to more flexible office models. All operations take place in an office, focusing on security, data safety and smart solution integration. This new type of work space focuses on operations, providing future expansion options and space for utilities.

Reporter: Dear experts, in 2019, what is the growth rate of the office segment? What will be the highlights of this segment?

Mr. Stephen Wyatt: With rapid advances in technology, today's working environment has higher mobility and shorter business cycles. Technology to the throne, people also require working with time and space better, this motivates the office market to become vibrant.

Besides, with the strong growth of online business in Vietnam, in the coming time technology corporations will continue to hunt for ideal office buildings and quickly become the main tenant group. This time is also an opportunity for investors and they should build offices to keep up with demand.

However, the prerequisite factor that technology companies aim to be office positions must attract talents, be supported by the Government, have the ability to connect traffic, integrated working environment with the goal of living, playing and working. Accordingly, investors need to consider the needs of this customer group.

In addition, coworking space's biggest challenge is the limited supply of grade A and B offices. Operators have begun to consider a new type of townhouse or retail area to set up their flexible workspace. Some co-operators are struggling to retain tenants. Some short-term tenants tend to move to newer spaces while large tenants are increasing the lease time from short to medium and long term.

Ms. Nguyen Hoai An: About 1 year ago, the number of coworking space businesss in Vietnam increased suddenly from 17 to nearly 40 firms, in which Vietnamese enterprises are overwhelming, when there are only 2 applications foreign operator. However, with an average growth rate of 50% / year, the coworking space in Vietnam promises to be an attractive investment channel of foreign investors. A long and hard-to-predict war will soon take place in Vietnam. In particular, in the age of technology 4.0, shared office is considered a quite effective place to legalize legal procedures for companies operating online businesses.

Prospects in 2019, HCMC office rental rates are not expected to increase anymore but will be stable at the current level. Meanwhile in Hanoi, in 2019, the office market forecast will have a new supply launched. Therefore rental units including existing offices and future projects should have appropriate pricing strategies to improve the competitiveness of this segment in Hanoi in the coming years.

Ms. Do Thu Hang: The office rental market in Vietnam is preparing to enter a new boom, 2018 is as a  stepping year, 2019 - 2020 will be really exciting. We also realize that coworking space is promising. By looking at the number of newly established enterprises in Hanoi, it is possible to see that the number of enterprises is high but the number of average employees per enterprise is small. Many people have their own companies and they need a reasonable, modern, accessible space, quality as expected, flexible in payment. Therefore, we believe that coworking space will be the development trend in the future.

Thank you very much,

Theo reatimes.vn/reablog

Source: tieudungplus.vn