Occupancy Index - January 15, 2022

OMICRON VARIANT

SRRA conducted a series of interviews to gauge employer’s response to Omicron. Two things were consistently mentioned. Firstly, most employers have already prepared physical conditions for returning employees to permit social distancing for between 30% and 50% of their labour force. Secondly, once governments and medical experts agree to lift restrictions, implementing a new normal will be iterative and not sudden permitting employees and companies time to adjust.

This may result in reaching new levels of occupancy - 30% by Spring. But it is too early to say when a significant return will follow.   -    Stay safe your SRRA Team.

Links to Articles of Interest

Dig beneath the headlines! 

New variant scuttles progress on return to the office

 Toronto – like most centres – showing stalled momentum for return to office due to Omicron

 The Economist’s take on WFH as a long-term concept (may require logging in to their site)

 Companies in Canada still a long way from taking action like Google’s latest salvo on vaccines

 Moving around London could become a problem if things don’t look up for TfL?

 Some see providing return to the office technology and advice as a revenue stream

 The push and pull over WFH – some workers prefer it, but most employers don’t want to cede control

 Changing perspectives on Omicron impact but the WHO still advising caution

  “The Occupancy Index is supported by the City of Toronto, Financial District BIA, Bloor-Yorkville BIA, The Waterfront BIA, Downtown Yonge BIA, St Lawrence Market BIA and Toronto Entertainment District BIA. It is a measure of the percentage of office employees returning to the office compared to the number of employees who would normally have come to their offices pre-COVID. For a detailed description of the calculation please contact Iain Dobson at [email protected],”