- Tech Companies Still Fight for Office Space in NYC
- Home Offices
- Why people are working from home, and why they want to continue doing so
- Traditional Offices
- Why some are still digging traditional offices
- Differences between the home office and traditional office
- What we can learn from the fight for office space in NYC
Many professionals have gotten a taste of the home office life, and probably want to continue working from home – but, as we have noticed, and others are also starting to notice, there are actually some quite significant advantages to having a real-life location for one’s company’s office. The tech industry is among this latter group.
Tech Companies Still Fight for Office Space in NYC
The number of tech companies in NYC has increased by 170% since 2013. This increase can be attributed to its location being within a short distance from major universities and world-class research facilities, containing talented workforces, and providing access to attractive venture capital.
Many tech companies have therefore made plans to relocate to the city over the last few years. Tech giants like Amazon and Google are leading the charge with their headhunters scouring all of New York for space in buildings near Penn Station. This has become a fierce battle between tech companies for prime real estate in Manhattan, which costs around $1,500 per square foot.
The city’s economic boom is driving up costs and making it difficult for smaller companies to compete with bigger ones. It can be intimidating for small businesses that don’t have the money to buy up skyscrapers, and among the giants, there’s a fierce battle for space.
Furthermore, New York City is one of the most popular cities in the world. It is home to some of the most famous landmarks, companies, and people. Tech companies are fighting for office space in NYC so they can take advantage of its massive talent pool. Employers have discovered that if they want to attract the best of the best tech talents, then they need a central location for this talent to come to.
Another reason why many tech companies are moving into NYC is that it offers a competitive price tag per square foot compared to other big cities like San Francisco Bay Area or London (which is also one of the reasons why we based our office in New York).
The above reasons also seem to be enough to overcome the increasing tendency to move towards working from home – even after everyone’s WFH experiences in recent years.
Home Offices
The home office is not something new. From the time of the ancient Greeks, people have had their offices in their homes. Nowadays, home offices are becoming more and more popular as a necessity for creative professionals and entrepreneurs, in part because of the Covid situation that’s been raging for a couple of years now.
Why people are working from home, and why they want to continue doing so
In addition, over the past two decades, the number of people working from home has increased due to the accessibility of the internet, as well as from a significant boost under covid. Working from home is no longer just for freelancers or executives in companies that have remote positions to offer.
People are often drawn to work-from-home jobs because they can be very flexible with their schedules and work when they feel like it. Homeworkers are also able to control their own calendars, whereas traditional jobs have strict scheduling. This allows them to save up more time for themselves.
When people work from home, there are three types of spaces in particular that they have come to use: creative spaces, workspaces, and playspaces. Creative spaces might be an artist’s studio or a co-working space that provides a nice creative environment to work from home. Workspaces can be a desk or a coffee table with stacks of documents on them because one doesn’t always need to do research when working from home. Lastly, play spaces can be anything creative like painting or writing but also includes workspaces such as one’s desk and computer monitor.
Some companies are realizing that if they want to attract top talent, they need to offer this flexibility in order not only to attract individuals but also to retain them in the long run. For other companies, however, the trick to attracting talent is not to provide work-from-home opportunities, but from having a central and physical location that people can go to. We’ll go more into this now.
Traditional Offices
The traditional office is still the standard for most businesses, and has, as seen above, gained increased popularity in the tech industry. However, on a whole, recent trends show that the traditional office is dwindling in popularity.
With the rise of remote work, freelance work, and co-working spaces, there are now more options than ever to find a workspace that meets people’s personal needs. Among these options are flexible desks, standing desks, and even home offices. Nevertheless, as we will see in the following sections – there are many advantages to traditional offices that explain tech companies’ great interest in securing a local office in NYC.
Why some are still digging traditional offices
Not only do traditional and physical offices in the city provide companies with a solid base from which to do business; they also provide a sense of belonging and comfort among employees. The benefits are, simply, numerous. They also include socialization, collaboration, and morale-boosting activities that take place within the office environment. Moreover, it has been proven that workplace happiness leads to higher productivity levels for both the employer and the employees.
In terms of workplace happiness, studies have shown that these offices help to reduce work-related stress as compared to other types of workplaces which have been linked with increased stress and reduced job satisfaction.
An office is, as we all know, a place where many people work in collaboration. The workplace can vary depending on the type of office that you are in. There are different types of offices like cubicle spaces and shared workspaces. The size of the office can vary depending on different factors like company size and needs. People working in offices usually share specific tasks to get the job done efficiently and effectively. What’s common to all traditional offices, is that people meet and collaborate in them; they share actual human contact and all its dynamic advantages.
Differences between the home office and traditional office
The home office has been a growing trend in the work world. With the advent of technology, many companies have begun to adopt this flexible working paradigm. However, there are still some key differences between a home office and a traditional office that favor the latter.
Most people have distractions from family members or kids, which makes it difficult to get as much work done as they would in an office. It’s a natural human instinct to work when others around are working; if one’s wife or family member is eating popcorn while watching soap operas, or the kids are playing with the dog, an environment is made which is not very conducive to work.
In addition, an inner lack of focus on work-related tasks may also be detrimental to some. At home, one has so many distractions around that it can be hard to stay at work – all day long. In the end, it becomes a personal thing whether one works best in traditional offices or home offices.
What we can learn from the fight for office space in NYC
When we look at the different advantages of both home offices and traditional offices, we stand in a better position to gleaning some insights from the tech companies’ fight for office space in New York. While there are indeed some key benefits to working from home, if one thinks business, there are some unchallengeable advantages that physical office locations bring.
To keep up with the increased demand for office space, some tech companies are leasing their real estate to other tech companies that can offer more than just an office. This has led to tech companies having offices on every corner of the city. This way, having a location of their own may not only be conducive to the tech company’s business; if they don’t take up all the space that they own, they can rent out some offices to other industries, strengthening their financial foundation in the process.
So there you have it. While entire armies of professionals are flocking towards the homes, for various reasons, the tech industry is rather hunting for the best locations to attract talent by establishing themselves in our beautiful city, the unofficial capital of the world, New York City.