About 84 per cent of Chief Executive Officers (CEO’s) in Nigeria have agreed that real estate industry in Nigeria is plagued due to the Coronavirus pandemic, especially companies in the business of office rentals.
This revelation is contained in the recently published CEO Report, a Philips Consulting initiative for 100 Nigerian business leaders.
The PCL of CEO Report further stated that 83 per cent and 55 per cent of CEOs have adopted a ‘Work From Home Strategy’ and ‘Standby Model Strategy’ respectively, and are beginning to question the need for large office spaces.
“Only 46 per cent CEOs are considering retaining their current offices, while others will seek smaller and cheaper offices, shared offices, or adopt an entirely virtual working model,” added the report.
In commercial cities like Lagos where massive high-rise office complexes are commonplace, real estate players must be ready for a shift in demand. They might be forced to repurpose their buildings or provide new services to suit the new mode of work, the report recommended.
The survey that recently engaged 100 Nigeria business leaders on the current economic landscape and presented the insights in its “CEO Report” said, “One word that best describes today’s business environment is “uncertain”. The ‘new normal’ occasioned by the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic is gradually fading away and being replaced by what is termed the ‘next normal’.
Amidst the frenzy of realigning strategies to better position businesses for recovery after the pandemic, the Philips Consulting’s CEO, Rob Taiwo mentioned that, “We have been hit with the harsh reality that the coronavirus might be here to stay. There is no going back to normal; instead, we have a next normal that is unpredictable.”
He said, the conversation to be heard now is how to prepare for a future full of unknown. Speaking on which industries benefitted from the crisis, Taiwo, a transformational leader said, “Globally, the IT sector experienced a surge in the wake of the pandemic, as a result of the shift to remote work”.
