Part 1: Return to the Office Series - Predicting the Return to the Office

ASIA PACIFIC

CURRENT STATE Undertaking an effort to predict the return to office and trying to provide an all-encompassing view is fraught with difficulty for a region as diverse as Asia Pacific. There is a raft of different experiences, government policies and cultural norms that continue to affect day-to-day living, all overlaid with the varying trajectories of virus transmission and vaccination coverage. With that context, this regional overview will be supplemented with specific market experience to highlight local variations. WHO’S CURRENTLY AT THE OFFICE? In 2020, Asia Pacific was the first region to feel the full effects of COVID-19 and was consequently the first to enter and exit an initial wave of lockdowns. In many parts of the region, things swiftly returned to normal. Data from our bespoke workplace strategy tool, Experience per Square Foot TM (XSF), shows 75% of workers in Mainland China reporting they were in the office every day or nearly every day by October 2020, while in Hong Kong it was around 69%. Both markets have trended upwards since this date.