Average weekly - 43%
Peak Day - Wednesday 55%
Slow Day - Friday 32%
More and more research is challenging the long-term benefits of the hybrid model asserted by many proponents. As companies work their way through the implementation of the hybrid model, lessons are being learned about measuring productivity, recognizing the increased time to train and develop talent and the deleterious effects of working in isolation especially when separating employment work from non-employment activity. Technological advances are enabling more effective remote work conditions which will permit flexibility in choosing where to work, but it is still too early to predict how much and for whom.
Our interviews with some of the largest employers continue to reveal frustration with too little in-person work and the deterioration of output in specific cases especially when the choice of work location is random and driven by employee preference. Employers continue to voice concern about this imbalance and about when it will resolve itself.
Stay well, your SRRA team.
The next Index is scheduled for week of March 27th, 2023.
Links to Articles of Interest
RBC Ties Reduced Earnings to Drop in Productivity as a Result of Remote Work
On the same day that RBC reported reduced earnings for the past year, RBC’s Dave Mackay calls out the slow return to the office and remote work as a primary contributor to the bank’s disappointing financial results for 2022. Employing nearly 100,000 people across Canada, RBC is one of the major employers that CEOs look to when trying to fashion a winning response to the thorny issue of how to get workers back in the office. “Society isn’t back together enough,” he told analysts on a recent conference call. “All CEOs in every sector…are struggling with a balance of developing talent, promoting talent, building culture, creating productivity...it’s tough, we don’t have the final model yet…most CEOs would tell you there is a productivity loss,” he noted. Regardless of how these complex issues turn out, RBC execs suggest, there will be some degree of impact on the real estate footprint.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-rbc-remote-work-challenges-ceo/
British Columbia Reverses Course on Remote Work as a Strategy to Attract and Retain Workers
Having previously said that provincial employees must attend their offices on a hybrid basis the provincial government has indicated that after April 1 it will allow people to work remotely on a permanent basis. The move is being welcomed by the mayors of smaller towns but others are not so sure the shift in policy will work out in the long run. Even the Globe and Mail is skeptical, suggesting in an editorial that more proof is needed that permanent remote working won’t affect productivity. A similar suggestion proposed late last year in the U.K. was quickly shut down as business leaders reacted with scorn.
https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/remote-work-strategy-coming-for-b-c-government-workers-1.6284839 and https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-bc-needs-to-do-more-homework-on-its-work-from-home-plan/
Europe and Asia Reporting Higher Levels of Workers Returning to the Office than the U.S.
A new report by Kastle surveying office occupancy levels in Europe, Asia and North America suggests that America’s lower rates of return are linked to a variety of factors. These range from stark differences in parental leave policies (working parents in the U.S. have greater difficulty managing a return to the office compared to Europe, where parental leave is significantly more generous), to average home size (U.S. housing tends to be larger and more amenable to home office situations), to different levels of reliance on tech firms (the U.S. has relatively more tech firms, which have shown themselves more open to remote work). Although not covered in the reports, it is likely that large metros in Canada have working environments that are more similar to the U.S. than Europe or Asia. Commuting patterns are also a contributing factor.
Whipsaw Impacts of COVID Continue to Surprise the Experts
While economists and others focus on the possible impact of a recession inspired by the pandemic, business leaders in Miami are reporting a stunning record of corporate relocations to Florida’s largest city. What began as a trickle has become a flood suggest local realtors. More than 50 companies either moved their offices there or opened up additional offices in Miami in 2022 and more than a dozen have already signaled their intention to do so in 2023. Not surprisingly, even as commercial realtors are counting their blessings, housing specialists are warning that housing costs are already ramping up. Perhaps the lure of zero state taxes is seen to be more important than already visible flooding impacts linked to climate change. Plus ca change.
Don’t be fooled by the title focused on Penn Station – this article has lessons on the challenges of city building for all
Towards the end of this very well researched article about failed efforts to rethink the mess that is Penn Station buried beneath Madison Square Garden (MSG), the author asks why it is so hard to plan and implement major infrastructure projects in large cities. The travails of Eglinton Crosstown come to mind, which in turn make the prospect of future failure to complete the Ontario line a distinct possibility.
And Now for Something Completely Different
Shades of Monty Python: Kastle Systems also tracks the volume of water consumed in U.S. offices, and reports that office occupancy levels are water consumption have been matching throughout the pandemic. How do they know this, you ask? The answer is that there is a new breed of internet-connected water cooler, which provides highly accurate reports on the amount of water consumed in more than 5000 locations. There is no mention of whether these devices have an impact on cyber security – see https://www.renewcanada.net/feature/prepare-for-the-worst-hope-for-the-best/ - but companies that have installed high tech water coolers believe that water consumption is a highly accurate indicator of how many employees are spending time in the office. Cheers to ‘water cooler moments’ as a symbol of office comradery!
https://www.wealthmanagement.com/office/watercoolers-become-rto-measure-remote-work-debate-rages
“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],”