Hand selected flexible workspace news from the most reliable sources to keep you ahead of the pack. We find all the latest news, so you don’t have to. Morning and afternoon updates. Stay in the know.
Here’s what you need to know today:
- The Executive Centre Expands Singapore Location
- Bank Of America Wants Vaccinated Staff Back In The Office
- How Offshored Remote Work Could Shift The Future Of Work
The Executive Centre Expands Singapore Location
The Executive Centre has announced it will expand its footprint in Singapore by extending its location at One Raffles Quay North Tower.
The 38,736 square foot addition will open on the first of July and occupy the 49th and 50th floor of the tower.
“The fitout process was quite challenging because the pandemic already delayed some construction works, and tighter safe management measures during the recent Phase Two (Heightened Alert) interrupted ongoing work,” said Yvonne Lim, managing director of Southeast Asia at The Executive Centre.
Lim added that the new extension will open with around 97% of the space leased. The majority of the presale will go to a large technology firm that will take around 1.5 floors. The rest will go to banking and vindial firms that have signed a five-year enterprise solution.
Bank Of America Wants Vaccinated Staff Back In The Office
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan says he expects over 70,000 of his employees to return back to its offices after Labor Day.
As for those who are unvaccinated, the company will work on a strategy to bring them back into the office.
Bank of American currently has over 210,000 employees globally.
“Right now, we’re moving people back who are vaccinated,” said Moynihan on Bloomberg Television. “We’re concentrating on getting them back to work, because that allows people to move about under the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines without masks and things like that.”
The firm joins other banking firms such as JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs who are currently bringing workers back into their U.S. offices.
So far, there does not seem to be any plans for remote or flexible work policies for Bank of America.
How Offshored Remote Work Could Shift The Future Of Work
A new report from Citi and the University of Oxford indicates that remote working positions could be offshored, but that innovation-centric work would need to be done in-person.
The report revealed that many professional services jobs can be done remotely for lower costs, which could cause a fundamental shift in developed economies where the future of work focuses on creativity and innovation.
With this, new opportunities could arise in knowledge industries such as technology, particularly for roles that focus on designing new products or service algorithms.
“Jobs that can be done remotely can often also be automated and offshored, meaning that occupations that center on the kind of sporadic interactions that drive innovation will become an ever-growing share of the workforce in advanced economies,” said Dr. Carl Benedikt Frey, report author and director of the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Work at the University of Oxford.
Although the amount of remote work is dwindling down from the peak of the pandemic, up to 20% of work can still be done remotely, which could lead to a 5% productivity spike.
However, while productivity could blossom, extended periods of isolation could hurt the initial creativity and innovation growth. This could lead to professional services jobs becoming more automated or off-shored and more thought-driven work to be done in-person.
