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COVID-19 Spells Trouble For Europe's Pensions, and Skyscrapers

Jamie Dettmer

   LONDON - Commercial landlords across Europe are bracing for prolonged
   repercussions from the coronavirus. While they argue offices will
   remain just as important after the pandemic as before, corporate bosses
   are starting to rethink their office space needs and many white-collar
   employees say they would prefer to continue to work largely from home.

   The pandemic may have kicked off a revolution in working practices --
   and that could spell trouble, economists say, for pensions funds, which
   have billions of dollars invested in commercial property, seen before
   the pandemic as a safe long-term bet.

   Property experts in London say the demand for office space in the
   British capital's financial district is set to fall significantly. They
   predict corporate bosses will start shunning skyscrapers, preferring
   instead to rent self-contained buildings for their staff, which can be
   more easily managed in a public health crisis.

   The end of the skyscraper?

   The chief executive of Barclays Bank, Jes Staley, says there will be a
   distinct trend away from skyscrapers. He told the BBC, "I think the
   notion of putting 7,000 people in a building may be a thing of the
   past, and we will find ways to operate with more distancing over a much
   longer period of time." Barclays is already exploring moving out of
   large flagship buildings and using retail branches as work hubs for
   their corporate management employees and investment bankers to use when
   they need to have face-to-face meetings.

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