Over a fifth of Hong Kong’s office tenants likely to reduce office space, with many relocating to mainland China and Singapore, study finds
- More than a fifth of the respondents polled in Hong Kong said they would downsize their office space in the next two years and relocate elsewhere
- Poll respondents cite cost cutting, shrinking business demand and work-from-home policy implementation as the reasons behind their choice
In a poll of 321 companies, the first since Hong Kong and mainland China scrapped all coronavirus pandemic curbs, 21 per cent or 69 of the respondents said they were likely to trim their operations, citing costs, shrinking business demand and further implementation of work-from-home policy as the top three reasons for their outlook.
“Some occupiers mentioned that their company’s capacity to relocate contributed to their decision,” the study by the property consultancy said. “Among all occupiers planning to downsize, 14 per cent cited relocating capacity to mainland China, 13 per cent to Singapore and 9 per cent to other parts of the world.”
“Businesses are motivated by optimising costs and adapting to changing market demands,” it added.
The poll was conducted from late June to early August and more than half the respondents were Hong Kong-based firms, 18 per cent from Europe and 11 per cent from other Asian cities.
