Vietnam office portfolios may adopt a hub-and-spoke model

Corporate real estate professionals will be looking for ways to converge people, without needing a fixed location 

As offices worldwide embrace the work-from-home (WFH) approach and new normal practices, Vietnam’s corporate real estate was quick to reopen and return to the status quo, not a ‘new normal’, leading office portfolios to look into using the hub-and-spoke model, reported Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam.  

According to Cushman & Wakefield’s insight into the office market in Vietnam, the country’s corporate real estate (CRE) strategy involves a conscious shift of when, how, and where people use the office.  

Office portfolios may shift to a hub-and-spoke model, commonly used by logistics markets around the world for many years.  

Downtown headquarters or ‘hubs’ may shrink, but they will remain vital for key meetings, pitches, interaction, as well as a key driver for talent recruitment. The firm has learned that the downtown office will still play a critical role in future CRE strategy, as social interaction motivates productivity in certain areas of business and is critical to corporate culture.  

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The ‘spokes’ are expected to be comprised of buildings in fringe areas or decentralised locations, flexible and closer to the workforce. Work-from-anywhere (WFA) may replace work–from–home, as co-working spaces or informal locations like shopping malls and coffee shops become places for employees to meet, forming part of a formal CRE strategy.  

The shift to this model will likely depend on the CRE strategies of multinational companies, particularly large firms assessing space in Vietnam and the wider Asia Pacific region.  

CRE professionals for various sectors will be seeking ways to converge people, but not necessarily at a fixed location.