The fifth floor of Manulife Financial Corp.’s stately headquarters on Toronto’s Bloor Street East sat empty during a recent tour, the workers having vacated about a week earlier.
The traditional offices on the periphery of the floor, in many different sizes and configurations, are destined to become a relic of the past. 
Vancouver's real estate scene; Fairview slopes townhouses under construction (foreground) and high rise condo towers in the city's Yaletown district, May 3, 2013.
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A for sale sign outside townhouses in the Fairview neighbourhood of Vancouver on Monday, March 4, 2013.
Manulife, one of the country’s largest life insurers, is embarking on a massive overhaul of its offices, one that will make more efficient use of its real estate by changing the way its employees work. The company plans to increase the proportion of its work force that is mobile – that is, working remotely or dividing time between multiple locations – to 30 per cent. Currently, that number stands at less than 5 per cent. It also intends to... |
