As the corporate operating environment around the globe hardened over the last 36 months, companies have moved from a focus on cost control to a higher demand for maximum productivity and smart growth, according to the inaugural Jones Lang LaSalle and Thomson Reuters' Corporate Real Estate Global Survey. According to the report, as companies emerge from the global financial crisis they are seeking to restructure and plan for a new economic era, which is placing more pressure and scrutiny on the productive use of CRE.

This presents a powerful opportunity for CRE teams to drive strategic change and bring added value to their wider businesses. CRE teams will be required to respond with greater agility, expediency and productivity, increasing their reliance on outsourced service providers. The first-ever survey drew responses from more than 500 CRE executives across the globe, including Germany, France, UK, China, India, Australia, and North America and across a variety of industries, including banking and finance, pharmaceutical, government and IT. This is the firm's first global effort to formally identify the future challenges facing the CRE industry and the likely consequences over the next three years.

'This survey gives us an unprecedented window into the mind of the CRE community, as well as the global business marketplace as a whole,' said Stuart Hicks, CEO of Corporate Solutions at Jones Lang LaSalle. 'Corporations have clearly shifted from short-term, survival motivated tactics towards medium term, strategic initiatives aimed at driving productivity enhancements.'

'Driving improved productivity by implementing more strategic real estate initiatives can release tremendous value given that real estate typically accounts for 7 -12% of a corporation’s total operating costs,' said Mr. Hicks.

'These survey results should also be of interest to the investor community as they point at important cyclical and structural shifts in demand for space, as well as operational priorities for the tenants,' said Robert Ciemniak, Global Head of Real Estate Markets at Thomson Reuters.' As corporations globally responded to tightening financial conditions and shrinking revenues, attention predictably turned quickly towards real estate. This pressure was firmly felt by CRE teams across the world with 97% of survey respondents supporting their business with one or more tactical real estate plays to reduce cost.