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The post Labour Day data shows some increase in office attendance, however, the surge anticipated in September is only beginning to be felt late in the week of September the 12th. The return to school likely contributed to a slow return at the beginning of the month. A three-day week for those who are coming in regularly has not changed, few report a broader return during the week. Some large companies are starting to see more in-office work, and we expect that that will change toward the end of the month raising the Index further.
Your SRRA team.
Links to Articles of Interest
Dig beneath the headlines!
Research involving interviews with CEOs across the globe published by the Harvard Business Review focuses on changing perceptions about hybrid working conditions. When the employees of one of Japan’s largest tech companies were surveyed a number of years ago the vast majority thought the “best place to work was the office.” After the shock of COVID, when everyone was forced to work from home, a more recent survey found that the opportunity to avoid long commutes had caused employees to reconsider their feelings about being in the office. Senior management plans to dedicate more resources to staff training, taking into account two key variables: place and time. “If leaders and managers want to make this transition (to hybrid) successfully, however, they’ll need to do something they’re not accustomed to doing: design hybrid work arrangements with individual human concerns in mind, not just institutional ones.”
https://hbr.org/2021/05/how-to-do-hybrid-right
American CEOs are pushing ESG initiatives focused almost entirely on net zero solutions. As with many emerging ‘new’ priorities – think cyber security – finding and retaining experienced executives to implement promises made in the headlines of press releases is easier said than done. Evidence from the U.S. described below suggests that landlords and portfolio managers are competing with each other for talent to implement net zero strategies as part ESG commitments. The rationale for concentrating on improving energy performance is also a practical, though, as CEOs look to control costs but also the ability to position their real estate assets as attractive to investors and potential tenants from an environmental perspective.
Post Labour Day office occupancy levels dropped back slightly in New York and other large U.S. metros after a major push by employers to get their people back into the office. The dynamics are complex. Kastle Systems data, which relies on key card swipes, suggests that employees in the finance, tech and media sectors are still in the driver’s seat in a tight talent market, prompting even large financial players like Goldman Sachs to ease back on harsh directives. But in sun belt employment clusters, where fear of layoffs appears to be more prevalent, occupancy levels are much higher. In New York, subway and commuter rail ridership has been on the increase, although numbers are still way below pre-COVID levels. The need for federal bail outs to the MTA has not yet gone away.
https://www.crainsnewyork.com/economy/nyc-office-occupancy-dips-slightly-after-labor-day-push
Transit agencies across North America struggling to find and keep their drivers. The cries for more funding continue but human resources execs are also fretting about the fundamental challenge of finding the personnel needed to get the job done.
And finally, a long article that digs into some of the many reasons why former TTC executive Andy Byford felt it was time to put a cap on his public service career following two and a half years leading Transport for London.
In addition to serving the transit needs of nine million souls in Greater London, TfL must also support one of the world’s most significant tourist destinations – 12 months a year. Take a ride on the fabulous new Elizabeth line (20 minutes from Paddington to Canary Wharf), or any one of the 11 lines serving nearly 300 stations that comprise London Underground (that’s not including the Overground or any of the light rail extensions), and you are guaranteed to have to share your space with visitors and their luggage – an essential role provided by the tube that is often overlooked. TfL carried around 5M passengers a day prior to COVID (all modes). After a very difficult 30 months, ridership is finally beginning to increase (see https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2022/february/latest-tfl-figures-show-continued-growth-in-ridership-following-lifting-of-working-from-home-restrictions) but the damage done to TfL’s balance sheet by the pandemic will take years to recover. For a transit executive who prides himself on providing exemplary service to all sectors of society, the possibility of having to cut back services to balance the books must have been a dire prospect. That problem may have been handled for now but transit habits have changed as a result of COVID – not just for commuters, but for everyone.
Even in Toronto, there are signs that it is high time to focus on the mobility needs of a region. Transit is no longer – if it ever was – just about connecting home to work. Post-COVID (fingers crossed) ridership trends suggest that Torontonians and visitors are relying increasingly on transit for all manner of trips seven days a week, not just the commute. Continued investment in the GTA’s public transit network is about protecting our growing region’s mobility needs.
“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],”