Tech firms’ change of plans have implications beyond commercial property market

It should have come as no surprise when LinkedIn confirmed last week that it was scaling back plans for a vast European campus in Dublin. In the months after the pandemic broke out,it was clear that the old way of working, where presenteeism ruled and anything less than full office attendance was an aberration, was gone. And while many of us have drifted back into the office in recent months, there is still a large chunk of the workforce spending at least part of their working week at home.

LinkedIn now joins a growing number of tech companies rethinking their office plans and adjusting them to the new reality. TikTok pulled out of negotiations with Marlet Property Group to lease the Shipping Office development on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay in August, only to sign a deal for the nearby – much smaller – Tropical Fruit Warehouse.

And Facebook has said it has paused the fit-out of phase four of its campus development in Ballsbridge – with remote and hybrid working it no longer needs the office space on the same timescale.

These companies are unlikely to be the last to rethink their plans, and it is not yet clear which way Dublin’s commercial property market will go. A handful of firms changing plans may make a trend but it doesn’t add up to a crisis when the companies in question are still occupying large swathes of office space. Google, for example, is bringing staff back into the office a few days a week.

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But it’s not just about the property market. With all these office developments come supporting services and businesses – cleaning companies are needed, local stores and cafes spring up to meet demand from the incoming workforce. The uncertainty around the future of large-scale developments will ripple out into those markets too, and undoubtedly have an effect until the global economy is back on its feet and new businesses come in to fill the gaps.

Until then everyone will have to hold their breath and hope for the best.