Page 154 - COVID-19: The Great Reset

most part highly leveraged themselves) will then start
experiencing a wave of bankruptcies, with the largest and

systemically important ones having to be bailed out by their
respective governments. In many prime cities around the world,
property prices will therefore fall over a long period of time,
puncturing the global real estate bubble that had been years in the

making. To some extent, the same logic applies to residential real
estate in large cities. If the trend of working remotely takes off, the
combination of commuting not being a consideration any longer
and the absence of job growth means that the younger generation

will no longer chose to afford residential renting or buying in
expensive cities. Inevitably, prices will then fall. In addition, many
will have realized that working from home is more climate-friendly
and less stressful than having to commute to an office.

The possibility of working remotely means that the biggest

hubs that have benefited from higher economic growth than other
cities or regions in their vicinity may start losing workers to the
next tier of rising cities. This phenomenon could in turn create a

wave of rising-star cities or regions attracting people looking for a
better quality of life thanks to more space at more affordable
prices.

Notwithstanding all the above, perhaps the notion of
widespread remote working becoming the norm is too far-fetched

to happen in any meaningful manner. Haven’t we so often heard
that optimizing “knowledge work” (in reality the simplest sector to
go remote) depends on carefully designed office environments?
The technology industry that has resisted such a move for so long

by massively investing in sophisticated campuses is now
changing its mind in light of the lockdown experience. Twitter was
the first company to commit to remote work. In May, Jack Dorsey,
its CEO, informed employees that many of them would be allowed

to work from home even after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides,
in other words – permanently. Other tech companies like Google
and Facebook have also committed to allowing their staff to
continue working remotely at least through the end of 2020.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that other global firms from various
industries will make similar decisions, letting part of their staff work

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