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The remainder of August showed little change, but in September we are seeing an increase in the number of workers attending downtown offices. Almost every company we have talked to expects September to see more people spending more time in the office. However, few companies have gone so far as to mandate that return preferring still to allow options where tasks allow for remote work.
We at SRRA, will be expanding this report to provide more commentary, on how labour markets are affecting employer’s attitudes to post pandemic remote work and explore how remote work will affect office markets…
Your SRRA team.
Links to Articles of Interest
Dig beneath the headlines!
Just before Labour Day, RBC president Dave Mackay was quoted in articles (see most recent Occupancy Index) and in a LinkedIn post strongly endorsing the value of in-person interaction that comes from having staff return to the office. His wise words have since shown up in many subsequent articles such as the one below that present a balanced set of views on the future of office work. The CBC piece (which quotes Iain Dobson) also introduces a neat new term – ‘the next normal’ – to describe Deloitte’s take on hybrid work schedules. It also breathes life into a more troubling term going the rounds – ‘quiet quitting’ – suggesting that employers need to remain flexible to keep staff happy. The quote most likely to startle, however, is attributed to the head of the federal government professional employees’ association, criticizing gentle urging from the government that encourages a return to the office. "No real justification is being brought forward," he complains. Huh?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-return-office-wfh-fall-pandemic-1.6570575
Shakespeare may have said ‘Kill all the lawyers,’ but evidence from the U.S. suggests we may all have something to learn from this oft-maligned group, with Kastle Systems reporting that lawyers are returning to the office at a higher rate than everyone else. “For [a first-year associate],” says one senior partners, “being able to sit and watch how we work through things, in person was much better than it would be if he (or she) was trying to watch it over Zoom or on the phone.”
A ‘line in the sand’ drawn by some major U.S. employers, who say it’s time to come back to the office. ‘We mean it this time,’ some execs are quoted as saying. The reasons or rationale vary widely, but there are suggestions that those who choose to push the hybrid envelope (a mixed metaphor but worth it?) could find that their jobs are the first to be cut when the economy slows. HR professionals are also beginning to use terms like ‘career trajectory’ as they look at the plight of younger staff who have not yet had a chance to make their mark.
A parting of the ways when it comes to trend lines? U.S. stats on office vacancy rates and the pace of increases in residential rents have traditionally followed similar patterns but Moody’s
Analytics (a subsidiary of one of the firms that did such a great job with the sub-prime mortgage crisis back in 2008) is pointing to the impact of remote work as a factor reducing the gap between big ‘gateway’ cities and their smaller brethren. Although the U.S. has a disproportionately large number of major cities compared to Canada, could a similar trend develop in Southern Ontario relative to the GTA?
New York’s heavy hitters in the financial sector making no bones about wanting employees back in the office. All remaining barriers to a return have been removed, they suggest, although some still want to be flexible – within reason. Threats of a recession are starting to shift the balance back in favour of employers some observers say. One HR consultant puts it this way: “As you start seeing some layoffs happening, people will say, `Woah, I don’t want to be laid off, I want to be in the office and have bosses see that I’m working really hard.’” And to reprise an insight from the New York Times: a top HR person in the financial sector worries about younger workers starting out who have never had the opportunity to develop relationships or acquire mentors.
https://www.bloomberg.com/future-of-work
Premier Ford is pressuring Ontario’s municipalities – including suburban municipalities – to increase densities as a way of growing the housing stock. Boston, one of the U.S. eastern seaboard’s most interesting large cities, has long struggled with housing affordability – in the early 00’s employers were leaving Boston in droves as they fought to hold on to valued employees. Now there are reports that developers are seizing on opportunities in suburban Boston stimulated by State requirements for minimum densities. Ontario has dabbled with the concept but not at this scale.
‘Flexibility’ is trending as a word that companies are deploying to describe their collective ambivalence, puzzlement and uncertainty regarding how to bring workers back to the office. This NYTimes piece also introduces the notion that working with colleagues in the office generates energy – something that some say is difficult to replicate when working virtually. Another word for ‘energy’ is enthusiasm – a trait that any employer should value – regardless of whether their employees are working in the office, remotely or within a hybrid arrangement.
Commentaries on the strength of the London office market underscore the value of matching knowledge and expertise to raw data. The ability to track change across a complex geography like Greater London is key. Increasingly, it seems, simple averages (such as vacancy rates) can mask important variations across a single market. SRRA’s unique value proposition (which relies on a combination of powerful data and expert commentary) is a case in point.
New York is grappling with the ultimate ‘third rail’ issue – congestion pricing – as the city struggles to shore up depleted funding for organizations like the MTA. The underlying message seems to be that New York foresees a need to continue to invest in its transit infrastructure to keep the region moving while also making progress on its climate goals.
Notes from random CBC interviews with people hired during COVID who are still working remotely. “Describe in one word how you feel about remote working.” ‘Expendable,’ said one. ‘Anxious,’ said another. ‘Relieved,’ said a third, referring to the benefits of never having to meet in-person with a co-worker with a horrible personality.’
“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],”