Is The CBD Office Still A Drawcard For Employees?

By Fiona Wilhelm , Customer Success Director at KPMG and Founder of Human Centred AI

A laneway in central Brisbane buzzes with the sound of coffee machines working overtime and the low hum of workers' conversations.?

The patissiers at Whisk expertly shape 300-plus pastries a day behind the glass front window, which serves as ideal entertainment, while employees wait for their coffee orders.

“The considered activation of the ground plane with “third spaces” is where workers want to meet and have those post covid water cooler work conversations and casual meetings”, says David Mann, of DMANN Corporation who, along with Ashe Morgan, are the developers of the newly completed Midtown Centre development in the Brisbane CBD.

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So, is there still merit in having a building in the CBD? Is it still attractive to employees??

The short answer is “yes” according to Mann.?

In his experience, businesses across the board are making corporate property decisions focused specifically around attracting the best talent, which has seen a flight to quality leased accommodation, not just from large corporates, but small to medium-sized organisations too.?

If the current office location isn’t appealing to employees any business will struggle to secure candidates, particularly in a low unemployment environment.?

“Location and amenity matters more than ever, employees want to be located with the full range of services that the CBD offers. Their office building needs to offer excellent end-of-trip facilities for their incidental exercise, health and wellbeing, along with a vibrant hub, where they can meet in third spaces outside of their office environs to socialise with their colleagues. More often than not that vibrancy won’t be found in a suburban business park or in the work-from-home model.”

Even Atlassian who announced they were going fully remote during Covid, have now emerged with a new hub style office offering as part of the Tech Central precinct, adjacent to Sydney's Central Station. Start up Daily reports that Atlassian co-founder and co-CEO Scott Farquhar sees the building as more than a new office space. “It represents our vision to create the biggest tech precinct of its kind in Australia. When complete, Tech Central will become home to thousands of new jobs and help create hundreds of Aussie-grown tech companies,” Which points to the opportunity for businesses to express their brand through workplace experiences.?

In turn, employees post-Covid want to be part of something greater than the job they are performing on a daily basis.?

The Rise And Rise Of The Omnichannel Worker

From corporate cupcakes to rooftop BBQs, there’s been a veritable smorgasbord of draw cards or even mandates to get employees back into corporate offices across Australia. These methods have attempted to lure employees back to the office, but are they missing the point? It also begs the question, why are we still so stuck in the ‘carrot and stick model‘ mindset?

Continue reading this article on our Aquent Australia blog?here.