Skanska has launched a new yearly market research, called Skanska Office Index, which was conducted by the end of 2007 by GfK Group in cooperation with IQS Quant Group The aim of the survey is to collect information about needs and opinions about office space. For the first time (I suggest “this first time” or delete first time) the survey was conducted among 600 companies in Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic, 200 in each country
Business trends Are your figures showing the Hungarian result or the overall result? - Overall, respondents have a positive view of their markets: 59% would describe their industry as expanding. - When considering their own company within the business/industry, the majority of respondents (53%) would say that their company is developing in line with the business on average, while 39% believe their company is developing better than the business on average.
Office trends - 39% believe that their company will have more employees in the office space that they are responsible for in one year, while 11% expect this to decrease.
- 27% of the respondents believe that their company will have more office spaces in one year and only 14% expect this to decrease.
- Regarding the office space layout, there appears to be a gap between the current layout and the layout preferred by the respondents and employees: nearly half of respondents/employees would prefer individual office rooms only instead of open office space (45%), while only 27% actually have individual rooms.
- 25% of the respondents have currently less than 8 sqm / person in their premises; 40% of them have 8-11 sqm / person and 19% still have 12-16 sqm / person and only 12% have more than 16 sqm / person space in their currant premises.
The availability of parking space by the property, rental charge and other financial terms and energy costs are the most important decision factors for respondents if they were to rent new office space.
- 43% of the respondents prefer Pest for their company location and 29% of them found Buda more attractive.
Climate change - Overall, it appears that environmental issues are of considerable importance to the respondents and have become an important factor for property companies to take into consideration when defining their customer offer.
- The majority of respondents are personally concerned about the climate change, are aware of the impact that the operation of an office building can have on the environment and believe that that the climate issue will become increasingly important in terms of what office space to use.
- In more tangible terms, half of respondents say that their company is prepared to pay a higher rent for using premises that are adapted to a lower energy consumption. Facts about Skanska’s Office Index • At the end of 2007 GfK Group in co-operation with IQS Quant Group has conducted the survey for Skanska Commercial Development • The purpose of the research was to collect information about needs and opinions about office spaces • The survey was conducted among 600 respondents in Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic: 200 in each country. • The respondents are responsible for rental contracts and strategic matters concerning office space • The respondents’ companies are mainly active within the following industries: banking/finance insurance, information technology, other service provision and advertising/public relations/marketing. • The companies has at least 50 office personnel and/or at least 500 square meters of office space • Geographical specifications: Main cities in Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic
Skanska Commercial Development Europe is one out of 14 business units within Skanska. The mission is to initiate and develop real estate projects such as office buildings and logistical facilities. The main focus of operations is the large metropolitan areas in Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. Skanska Commercial Development Europe is divided into three local companies: Skanska Property Czech Republic, Skanska Property Hungary and Skanska Property Poland. Strong concern about environment and compliance with all legal and other environmental requirements is an integral part of Skanska day-to-day activities. All Skanska projects represent the highest standards concerning environment protection.