Consumer brands bet working from home is here to stay

[moneill]

The pandemic will cause some big changes in our lifestyles for sure.

Not all bad.

I know that my sons' companies have not renewed leases on office space. Both were adding more offices before the pandemic, now they will be cutting that space. Should be interesting to see how that influences cities. Maybe some of those spaces will be converted to residential.

I also think the pandemic escalated the demise of shopping malls and box stores as online shopping went main stram.

Sure it won't eliminate shopping. Shopping is one of the biggest hobbies in the USA especially so it won't go away -- just won't be as big a thing. Already was happening in many communities with malls drying up.

[UNC4Me]

Originally Posted by ditchoc

No doubt we will be more dependent on the digital pipeline.

Home office space is a tax write off.

No more school snow days. Perhaps even year round school.

Businesses save enormous square footage in office space, heat, cooling, water etc.

Less gas used. More electric cars.

More time with families.

Overall, many advancements that were coming in the next 10-20 years are here now.

Not anymore unless you own your own business and run it out of your house. The home office deduction went away for anyone working from home and receiving a W2 from their employer as part of Trump’s tax “break”. That’s the one that’s cost me 6K in additional taxes in 2018, 8k in 2019 and who knows how much in 2020.

[ChrisC]

And who keeps the country running and keeps you alive?

Computers from home don't collect your garbage, fix your pipes when they burst, keep your butt warm when the power lines blow down, keep gas in your car, or stock your grocery shelves. Remember that it has been the "non-essential workers" who have been sitting their butts at home behind a monitor all day. The "essential workers" have been doing the same thing they did before... and it ain't pecking away on a computer.

[Three Wolves In Snow]

Originally Posted by TheGoodTheBadTheUgly

I wonder how this will affect the commercial real estate market.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/...e-here-to-stay

I don't have a problem with this. I've been advocating for it since 2000. A lot of buildings will go empty, but it doesn't have to mean the death of real estate. Not every job can be done from home, but many of them can.

*Less congestion, less expanding of roads and tearing down all the trees and animal habitats around them, (I'm looking at you, North Carolina - the hell are you people doing? You're destroying everything!)

*Less accidents.

*More time for yourself since you're not stuck in traffic for an hour or even far more, every day.

*Lower insurance rates since you won't be driving so much.

*Employees save money because they don't have to spend so much on dry cleaning, food, gas, maintenance, etc.

*You can do some of your chores while you're working - throw in a load of laundry, work, take a small break, put it in the dryer, work, take a small break, fold them and put them away, work.

*It's easier to work longer hours because you're already home.

*More comfortable - pajamas! (Except the top if you have to go on video conference.)

*No annoying co-workers you're stuck sitting next to all day long.

*Again - more time for yourself, more time for yourself, more time for yourself.

*Again - saving money, saving money, saving money. If you live near a store, you wouldn't even need a car - or you can use Instacart. For the times you need a car, Uber. Massive savings.

We all saw how the air cleared up during the "2 weeks" (lol) lockdown - imagine that all the time. No need for some overbloated "green new deal" with ridiculous spending requests on useless crap.

*Less animals being killed by drivers. (That alone is a major plus, in my view. I happen to prefer nature and animals over people.)

Real estate agents will adapt. They will still have a market. Again, not all jobs can be done from home. There will still be shops, there will still be restaurants, there will still be bars, theaters (maybe that will go away in the future, too), there just won't be as many office buildings - which, really, are all the same ugly eyesores. Some ugly architecture with wood chips and shrubs out front. How original. Tear those down, put nature back in place.

Not everything is about money - and those who are intelligent, will adapt to the "new normal".

This is the ONLY thing I'm 'happy' about with this stupid Covid thing. It finally showed businesses that yes, you can have your employees work from home, and yes, you can still monitor them if you must, and yes, it does save you overhead on expenses that you no longer need to spend money on. It's possible. It only took 20 years and a dumb virus to get people to realize it.

[ChicagoMeO]

I work in an office, so since we've been closed down since March, we have had to pay rent, but they gave us a credit. also we saved on travel expenses because meetings are being online, and since more people can attend, those meetings online increased. we haven't had to buy copier supplies, (paper, ink, etc); also saved on office supplies, to name a few. we think we will be back in the office in 2021.

However, we love working from home so much, that if they give us the option, we will not want to return to the actual office. some have moved out of state to work at home. people with kids who cant go back to school find it a lifeline, no babysitter.

commuting downtown has been reduced, so that we dont have to pay $200 - $300 a month on the train commuting from the far suburbs to downtown, and the time - maybe 2 hours a day saved back and forth not commuting. those are being affected too with loss of revenue.