Owners and managers of Australia’s biggest office and commercial precincts have joined together to welcome businesses and their workers back to their regular workplaces.
“After a year of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic which forced many Australians to work from home, office building owners and managers have declared they’re ready for them return to their workplaces after their summer break,” said Ken Morrison, Chief Executive of the Property Council of Australia.
“Working together, Australians have done a great job in adjusting to a COVID-safe way of life.
“Our members have also been doing their part, by ensuring workplaces are ready for business and their workers to return.
“Every part of the journey through an office building including foyers, lifts, end of trip facilities, common areas and shared spaces has been reviewed with new practices and protocols put in place to promote health and safety,” Mr Morrison said.
Mr Morrison said while the way people work and use offices is changing, successful businesses were built on people being connected, collaborating and working in teams in an office workplace.
“The connections and relationships established in the workplace helped to sustain businesses while people worked from home, and they’ll be just as important as we build the economic recovery from the impact of COVID-19.
“There’s a powerful economic effect from people working together in offices, which is why our major CBDs are such important drivers of productivity and innovation.Our two biggest CBDs – Sydney and Melbourne – each contribute around 7 per cent of national GDP.
“People coming back into the office also matters for all of those businesses in the CBD, including hospitality and retail, which depend on their customers being back at their office workplace,” Mr Morrison said.
Property Council members have welcomed the leadership shown by governments and business in supporting a return to the office as health restrictions have been lifted.
“There’s a growing momentum for people to come back to their workplaces, and our members are ready to support their return in the coming weeks and months,” Mr Morrison said.
