London, New York, Paris ... Business districts, emptied since the Covid, are reinventing themselves

Since the onset of the health crisis, business districts around the world have been ghostly.

Between fear of the Covid and teleworking, many companies have deserted the premises.

But with the gradual return to normal, the capitals are organizing themselves differently.

And some have resisted better than others.

From Paris to New York, via London or Frankfurt, major business districts around the world have been ghostly for 14 months, most of them emptied by fear of the virus and teleworking.

With the health crisis, each country has indeed taken different measures, and is now organizing itself in its own way in the face of the gradual reopening.

This is particularly the case on Wall Street, closed for eight weeks in the spring of last year, where the health protocol has finally been relaxed. 

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An "example for the rest of the business world"

Since May 2020, telecommuting was the rule within the New York Stock Exchange and very few brokers or traders were present on the spot. So the news of a virtual return to normal has delighted more than one. "This is one more step towards a return to normalcy. We have more freedom to welcome more employees on site. Even if it will always be necessary to respect social distancing, it will come closer to what we knew before, ”says Jay Woods, chief strategy officer at a brokerage firm. 

While teleworking is still very widespread in the United States, several large American banks indeed want to set an example and are in favor of a gradual return of their teams.

Like Goldman Sachs, which plans to bring back its employees in mid-June.

According to Jay Woods, Wall Street may be an example.

"We closed because it was the heart of the crisis. But now, we are back and we want to show the rest of the business world that it is so long to come back", continues the one who directs his teams in the mythical Wall Street trading floor. 

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City offices transformed into housing

In Europe, the measures were very different in the business districts.

In Frankfurt in particular, teleworking has never been the rule and two thirds of companies have already announced that they will not ask their employees to distance themselves.

On the London side, on the contrary, the offices are half empty according to some traders, and no deadline has been set for a return to the premises of the City.

Some will even become housing or will be rented to start-ups. 

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As for Paris La Défense, signs of recovery are already observed: 20 to 30% of employees are back in person, companies are gradually increasing their size and the volume of office sales is in the average of the last ten years.

Total is even building a new tower there. 

And on the side of Société Générale, we are adopting another strategy.

Because while teleworking is progressing, that does not mean a reduced presence at La Défense.

"We are going to bring people to this site who were in premises elsewhere. It remains a central place when we receive customers and it is very large," explains Caroline Guillemin, HRD of the group.  

"Evolve towards a hybrid operation"

No office disappearance planned in La Défense therefore, but a desire to rethink everything and modulate the spaces. This is how Pierre-Yves Guice, director general of the public establishment, imagines the months to come. "They will have to change their architectural configuration and working conditions to evolve towards a hybrid operation," he explains. "The offices will not disappear but their usefulness will evolve towards a role of socialization and creation of added value between the work teams".

Because unlike the City of London, the business district of the French capital is not only made up of business premises. It also has a good number of accommodation, cycle paths, restaurants and places to live. Especially since a lot of projects are still in the pipeline, and would allow La Défense to bounce back better.