HACKER Q&A
📣 gooob

What should companies be doing with all their empty office space?


My employer has a large office building. Ever since the pandemic, 95% percent of the desks are empty. most of the floors have nobody working on them. it's like the backrooms. i was thinking of indoor gardening. bring in some lights and plant trays of seeds. what are your ideas?

  👤 controversial97 Accepted Answer ✓
In lots of places in the USA zoning laws prohibit agriculture in urban areas where an office building is likely to be located. Growing plants in an office building may not be permitted.
👤 LinuxBender
This sound like an opportunity to optimize the business costs. Assuming they can get out of their lease or other contracts, cut the loss and write-off any early cancellation contract penalties if possible in their state. Their finance department and tax consultants should be able to help with this. Let a philanthropist or co-founder lease the old/big building in a separate LLC and turn it into something cool if there is a desire to do so, keeping that burn rate out of the public numbers.

Lease a much smaller building with some good parking and put in "hotel space" desks, wifi, healthy snacks. Keep it as lean as possible and keep the contracts to 1 or 2 years. This gives people a chance to mentor in person and for people that need socialization to do so. The smaller building should have some meeting and training rooms and also some private/quiet rooms so people can focus. There should be a few sound-proof booths for phone calls to keep distractions to a minimum. Ensure that all levels of management have bi-annual training to make the best of remote-work and to ensure their employees are productive, healthy and happy.

👤 napolux
Social coworking. A space where for a monthly subscription people can study, work, surf the internet with their computers and socialize. A place for meetups, hackatons, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, art, etc...

Like a library or a gym, but for your mind.

And if there's already a gym, bingo!

This is for a full building, but you can also do something social for many smaller places.

👤 mamonster
Serious answer: Check the lease.

Unless your company outright owns the building, your lease contract will usually have pretty severe restrictions about what you can or cannot do with the space.

If your company outright owns the building, chances are that your management may already be looking into selling it but can't find a buyer at a price they like.

👤 kwertyoowiyop
Belko Experiments, obviously.
👤 cratermoon
Housing for the houseless.