Commercial Real Estate & Remote Work: Let us break the conflict

The National Bureau of Economic Research published a report in September, 2022, with the title "Work From Home and the Office Real Estate Apocalypse."  Negative trends in the data were reported for lease revenues, office occupancy, lease renewal rates, lease durations, and market rents as firms shifted to remote work in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Headlines have dominated the business journals with warnings about the potential impact on regional economies and community banks.  The problem with this conflict is that neither side is clearly articulating the common objective both of them share.  Commercial Real Estate companies want to be profitable.  In order to be profitable, they feel the need for all workers to return to a traditional "5 day's in the office" schedule.  Workers want to be in a work setting that gives them quality of life regarding families and marriages (PEW research confirms these as the top priorities for Millennials; nothing else comes close).  In order for these jobs to exist, companies must be profitable.  The conflict is subsequently stated as remote work vs. traditional office work.  Ultimately this gets us nowhere.  A better approach would be to agree both sides (commercial real estate and employees in the workforce) have a common objective.  Both sides need companies to be profitable.  Without profitable companies, occupancy rates would be catastrophically lower while unemployment rates skyrocket.  This means the commercial real estate needs to have an answer to the next question.  How can we support healthy families and promote profits across the companies who become our tenants.  The answer is painfully obvious, requires limited cash investment, and it can be implemented immediately.