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With companies cutting costs, re-aligning bugets and restructuring their operations to survive the current economic climate surelythe ’softer’/quality of life issues will become harder to justify
Do you think companies will pay less attention to the softer location factors in these more difficult economic times?
In my (personal) view there will be a clear division in the sense that financially strong firms will continue to occupy prime space that is currently available at atttractive pricing levels across Europe. In this case ”prime” primarly refers to the best mixed use locations and to a lesser extent sustainability related aspects. Firms facing challenges obviously will not think about expanding – perhaps relocating to more affordable buildings; in this case considerations regarding quality of building and/or environment are obviously not a main priority.
I find the terminology “softer side” characteristics of choosing where to locate a business a bit ofl fashion and archaic. Data suggests that productivity is not simply about widgets on an assembly line. Human being can achieve more in quality living conditions. A boring, ugly and depressing city with nothing to do is certainly not a place for talented people. This is not an either or proposition for a company. Relocation failure ranges from 10-65% depending upon the literature with a cost to companies anywhere between $250,000 to $1,000,000 per failure.