Occupancy Index - February 15, 2022

Impact of Reduced Restrictions –

 Activity since Valentines Day has increased, and early indications are that employers will start bringing people back in earnest in March. Transit use remains low in the subways serving office space despite the extensive efforts of the TTC to reduce the Omicron transmission risk.

 Our limited data on 905 office space indicates that as much as 25% of office workers are back in the office in suburban parks. This underscores the importance of building confidence in public transportation to enable a stronger return in the Downtown. Stay safe, your SRRA Team.

Links to Articles of Interest

Dig beneath the headlines! 

In a lengthy list of places where COVID restrictions are to be lifted, the province manages to avoid mentioning offices! At last count, there were nearly half a million office jobs in the GTA alone, whose presence in the office contributes significantly the economic welfare of local retail, restaurants and more.

U.S. companies focusing on redesign of office space as survey shows few choosing to reduce their footprint

More uncertainty around working from home reported in the U.S., with employers clearly nervous about pushing staff too hard with hard and fast mandates to end WFH

Interesting podcast on approaches being tried in the U.S. to lure workers back to the office

The U.K. office market is seeing a focus on refurbishment as employers use the pandemic as turning point for how to best organize their space – and make it more sustainable at the same time

 Zoom stocks down, hotel stocks up. A fascinating glimpse of the changing fortunes of video conferencing vs hotel occupancy levels.

 An academic claims that that offices of the future will just be a place for workers to socialize. Probably important that we all need to learn how to spot commentary from advocates who search for evidence that fits their world view.

“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],”