Currently there are 38 institutional flexible working locations in the UAE, and this number is expected to increase further over the coming years thanks to key measures such as easing of visa restrictions and  opening of regional economies, said an expert.
 
Rather than the traditional serviced offices, the flexible working trend has been one of the main facilitators of this change, according to Knight Frank, a leading independent global property consultancy.

"Globally we are seeing a seismic shift in the way that global occupiers are using real estate as a core tool to achieve business objectives. The flexible working trend has been one of the main facilitators of this change. In the UAE, we are now seeing similar trends come to fruition. The supply and take up of flexible space is slowly filtering into the UAE, a market that is almost by design perfectly suited for this purpose," it stated.

According to Knight Frank, for occupiers, real estate is now a strategic priority in their business and the workplace represents a further strategic lever available to business leaders in their pursuit of competitive advantage.

Therefore, real estate decisions influence and reinforce an array of business priorities - from talent management, corporate and social responsibility, inclusion and diversity, to the transformation of corporate culture and brand or the restructuring of business models in light of rapid technological advances, stated the London-based consultants.

Hence, occupiers failing to put their space at the heart of their strategic agenda is, simply put, detrimental to their business, it added.

As corporate occupiers continue to make real estate a core part of their strategic agenda, landlords in turn must now understand how demand is changing and rethink their own proposition to the market, said the property expert.

"With business planning horizons shortening and new working practices evolving, landlords will be required to provide greater levels of occupational flexibility. As a result, landlords will no longer only be able to provide just a physical container for workers, they must provide this space as a service. If landlords fail to do this, they are placing returns and asset performance at risk," he warned.

Knight Frank has identified the following five themes - The productivity push; Next wave technologies; Changing corporate constitutions; Space as a service and mobility and merger - that will shape future occupational demand across global real estate markets. Individually, each of these themes will be highly influential.

In combination, they represent nothing short of a new occupational orthodoxy. In summary, these five trends will determine the future what, where, how and why of the global workplace, stated Knight Frank.

The British real estate expert said it will cover these themes - in depth, in its Space Report.

“Growth will be underpinned by the easing of visa restrictions, which allows easier and lower cost company formation for start-ups. More so, we expect greater demand for flexible space as the regional economies open-up, which will only further entrench project led business practice and thus corporates’ desire for more flexible space across the region,” remarked Said Taimur Khan, the Associate Partner, Development Consultancy and Research at Knight Frank Middle East.

Matthew Dadd, Partner, Commercial Agency & Occupier Solutions at Knight Frank, said: "Looking ahead, we expect the provision of flexible working space to increase in the UAE, both within occupiers own real estate space but by developers, landlords and operators as well."

Occupiers failing to put their space at the heart of their strategic agenda is, simply put, detrimental to their business, he added.-TradeArabia News Service