The banks, following the example of the BPCE group which is inaugurating two new office towers in Paris on Wednesday, are reducing their real estate in the Ile-de-France to adapt to the lower occupation of the premises by their employees, more often teleworking, and are making savings.
The delivery of the Duo towers in the south-east of Paris (13th arrondissement), near Ivry-sur-Seine, allows the mutualist group, which notably brings together the Banques Populaires and the Caisses d’Epargne, to reduce its number of employees from 28 to 10. buildings in Ile-de-France.
By early 2023, these brand new 90,000 square meters will be able to accommodate 9,000 employees, explained before the summer the chairman of the group’s management board, Laurent Mignon, during a visit with the press.
But not at the same time, since the towers designed by the architect Jean Nouvel will only have 6,000 workstations, all in “flex office” with the exception of trading rooms and workstations adapted to employees with disabilities. .
With this mode of organization which aims to be more collaborative, the employee has no reserved place. A locker allows him to store his personal belongings and dedicated spaces (meeting rooms, “bubbles”…) to isolate himself.
The pace of telework – 10 days per month – as well as recurring reasons for absence – holidays, sick leave – allow the mutual bank to apply this ratio of places per employee.
The savings thus generated by BPCE on operating expenses is around 30% to 40%.
The suburbs yes, La Défense no
“The use of teleworking is more substantial in Ile-de-France than in the provinces, especially for large groups and in service professions
“, explains to AFP Loïc Hervé, deputy general manager in charge of the real estate division at Perial Asset Management, a company specializing in the management of real estate funds.
Banks tick these boxes perfectly, which is why they are “all thinking about the subject
says Marine Galiana, head of strategy and transformation at consulting firm Deloitte.
“For good management, these banks and insurance companies will not keep more than 50% vacant positions”, adds his colleague Bruno Amsellem, in charge of real estate, in particular at headquarters and in call centers.
The first French bank BNP Paribas, with multiple historical locations in the center of Paris, is gradually reducing its fleet and transferring its employees to areas that are less expensive per square meter, such as Pantin, in Seine-Saint-Denis.
On the insurance side, CNP has officially left its historic premises above Montparnasse station for a new headquarters under construction in Issy-les-Moulineaux, in the Hauts-de-Seine.
Nobody is scrambling to settle in the business district of La Défense in decline, where it is now appropriate to ask its owner between one and four months of free rent per year.
Even Société Générale, the district’s leading employer, chose Val-de-Marne and Fontenay-sous-Bois to install most of its IT and technical functions from 2016.
question of generations
French banks, however, keep their prestigious buildings in the center of Paris.
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Undeniably, it is still necessary for these large banks to maintain a showcase” for the needs of its high-end clientele, emphasizes Mr. Amsellem, like the premises of Société Générale, boulevard Haussmann, or La Banque Postale, rue du Louvre.
When the American investment bank Goldman Sachs looks for bigger in Paris, it is typically this kind of property that it is looking for. She finally put down her suitcases in May, a stone’s throw from the Arc de Triomphe.
Start-ups in the sector are moving away from it. Thus the financial services company dedicated to businesses Qonto, one of the French unicorns (these new technology companies valued at a billion dollars and more) has chosen to establish itself at the foot of Montmartre.
She appealed to the American giant of shared offices WeWork to have a place available “designed torespond to constantly changing working methods, with more flexibility and spaces that facilitate interaction between employees,” she explains.