Work from home: bane or blessing? Implications for corporate real estate strategies

Technological progress and developments in the economy and society are constantly changing the way we work. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the move towards multilocal working: knowledge workers worldwide have been forced to gain experience of working from home. Based on this experience, they are now in a position to weigh up different places of work and articulate desires for the distribution of working time between home workplace, third places and office.Previous studies have shown that working from home can have positive effects for corporates in the form of productivity increases. However, it has so far remained open which employees exactly are successful at different workplaces. The aim of the study is to identify clusters with their own workplace distribution based on personal, work-related and real estate characteristics, and to investigate whether the desire for specific workplace distribution promises success.Identification of the subgroups is done by conducting a hierarchical cluster analysis that includes previously identified personal, work-related and real estate characteristics. The evaluation and interpretation of the cluster solution is based on the desired workplace distribution and identified work success variables. Data from a survey of 2000 German and US knowledge workers is taken into account.The results of the survey suggest that knowledge workers in Germany and the US have developed a good sense of the workplace in which they can work successfully. At the same time, the decision-makers in the corporates have to decide carefully who should work at which workplace with a view to the corporate’s success. It is also clear that as work becomes more multilocational, real estate resources must play an important role in creating a corporate culture and identity.Alternate :Technischer Fortschritt sowie Entwicklungen in Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft verändern die Art des Arbeitens fortlaufend. Die anhaltende Covid-19-Pandemie beschleunigt die Entwicklung hin zu multilokalem Arbeiten: Wissensarbeiter weltweit waren dazu gezwungen, Erfahrung mit dem „Work from Home“ zu sammeln. Diese sind nun in der Lage, aufgrund dieser Erfahrungen über die verschiedenen Arbeitsorte abzuwägen und Wünsche an die Verteilung der Arbeitszeit auf Homeoffice, dritte Orte und Büro zu artikulieren.Vorangegangene Studien zeigten, dass die Arbeit von zu Hause für Unternehmen positive Auswirkungen in Form von Produktivitätssteigerungen haben kann. Dabei blieb bisher offen, welche Mitarbeiter genau an den verschiedenen Arbeitsorten erfolgreich sind. Ziel der Studie ist es, aufgrund persönlicher, arbeitsbezogener und immobilienbezogener Merkmale Cluster mit eigener Arbeitsortverteilung zu identifizieren und zu untersuchen, ob der Wunsch nach der spezifischen Arbeitsortverteilung Erfolg verspricht.Die Identifikation der Subgruppen erfolgt anhand der Durchführung einer hierarchischen Clusteranalyse unter Einbezug zuvor identifizierter persönlicher, arbeitsbezogener und immobiliarer Eigenschaften. Die Bewertung und Interpretation der Clusterlösung erfolgt anhand der gewünschten Arbeitsortverteilung und identifizierter Arbeitserfolgsvariablen. Dabei finden Daten aus einer Umfrage unter 2000 deutschen und US-amerikanischen Wissensarbeitern Berücksichtigung.Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung legen nahe, dass Wissensarbeiter in Deutschland und den USA ein gutes Gespür dafür entwickelt haben, an welchem Arbeitsort sie erfolgreich arbeiten können. Zugleich müssen die Entscheider in den Unternehmen im Hinblick auf den Unternehmenserfolg mit Bedacht entscheiden, wer an welchem Arbeitsort tätig sein soll. Außerdem wird deutlich, dass die immobiliaren Ressourcen bei zunehmender Multilokalität der Arbeit eine wichtige Rolle beim Schaffen einer Unternehmenskultur und -identität einnehmen müssen.

National study on the risks of COVID-19 for paediatric renal transplant recipients

IntroductionFrom the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, evidence emerged that children were less affected by SARS-CoV-2 PCR DNA COVID-19 positive infections, with increasing evidence showing immunosuppressed children were less at risk compared to immunosuppressed adults. The aim of our study was to investigate how COVID-19 infections affected paediatric renal transplant recipients in the UK.MethodsQuestionnaires regarding patient demographics, renal transplant information, COVID-19 infection data and care of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic were sent out to all 13 UK paediatric nephrology centres.Results54 patients (69% male;50% Black, Asian and minority ethnic [BAME];57% living donors) aged 4–19 (median 11) years and between 2 months – 15 years (median 3 years 1 month) post-transplantation from nine centres tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 PCR DNA. Four centres had no positive patients. 48% presented with the classical COVID-19 symptoms (37% fever, 11% continuous cough and 4% loss of sense of taste or smell);atypical presentations included diarrhoea (13%) and headache (8%). 37% of patients were asymptomatic. 28% were hospitalised (median stay 2 days) which included asymptomatic patients admitted for other reasons. Of those admitted, one patient required oxygen;however, no patients required ventilation or intensive care admission. One child had a rejection episode as a complication of the infection and one adolescent had ongoing cardiorespiratory symptoms for six months. There was evidence of AKI with renal transplant dysfunction in 31% of patients, with increase in mean baseline plasma creatinine from 80.6µmol/l to 171.7µmol/l, but no patients required CVVH or dialysis.Conclusion9% of the UK paediatric renal transplantation population have had documented SARS-CoV-2 PCR DNA infections with 28% required hospitalisation. There was increased prevalence of AKI, particularly after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, possibly due to different variants, although there is no specific virological data to support this.