Average weekly - 45%
Peak Day - Wednesday 58%
Slow Day - Friday 27%
Employers are beginning to invest in office facilities to attract workers back, a tangible sign that they are trying to encourage a return to the office. New more collaborative space which have the amenities of home and address the cost of coming to the office may continue to reduce remote work.
Variations of the hybrid model where employees choose when and where to work is not meeting the needs of employers. It is evident from interviews that most employers who are measuring productivity relative to where employees are working are finding a need to increase office attendance. At the same time employers are supporting remote work where it is working.
See several Articles of Interest below which underscore the tension between employers and employees over when and how remote work should be managed.
The next Index is scheduled for April 27th, 2023.
Links to Articles of Interest
Thoughtful Fortune Analysis Calls for Employers and Employees to ‘Grownupify’
Taking stock of the many conflicting directions affecting the modern office work environment, this excellent article from Fortune suggests that we may have forgotten how to add value to individual performance in the workplace. Paying too much attention to productivity measures that are more appropriate for the schoolyard than today’s offices devalues the importance of trust. In what the author characterizes as ‘non value-added optimization,’ this is a call for everyone to ‘grownupify’! And the bonus is that there is no mention of remote work or pressures to return to the office. This is about trusting your employees to great work. Perhaps negotiators and union representatives for more than 150,000 federal employees currently looking down the barrel of strike action should take a read of this piece?
Is the U.S. Leaving Work From Home Behind?
Data from the U.S. Dept of Labor suggests that the number of workers back in their offices is nearing levels from before the pandemic. Just another source of information to confuse the picture or an indication that trends are shifting?
https://www.wsj.com/articles/work-from-home-era-ends-for-millions-of-americans-8bb75367
One of Canada’s Largest Employers Stresses ‘Purposeful work’ as Key to Company’s Future
Manulife has been investing in physical and programmatic offerings to make being back in the office as pleasant as possible but CEO Gori says,”I think we’re going to see – and probably already are seeing – productivity improve because people are now being more purposeful with their time.” The Manulife building is more than a century old so a refresh was probably overdue but the company has taken the opportunity to build out functional but attractive work spaces. While there continues to be debate among CEOs about how many days in the office should be mandatory, Gori feels that two out of five is the right move for his employees. Surprisingly, Monday attendance levels are also higher than industry norms, something that is also reflected in company locations in other countries.
Some UK Office Workers Are Reluctantly Admitting They Like Being Back in the Office
Following a media tradition of using individuals to tell a story with wider implications, this article offers the experience of a 20 something who admits to appreciating being forced back into an office environment. In addition to stressing the more obvious advantages associated with face to face contact, the article explores one of the less well-known challenges of working from home: the ability to separate home and work life.
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20230317-the-workers-quietly-backtracking-on-return-to-office
Doom and Gloom for Office Landlords in the U.S. Points to a New Normal Say Realtors
Faced with the need to manage the cost of upgrades to retain tenants and financial pressures related to rising interest rates, even well-heeled companies like Brookfield are feeling the pain in some U.S. markets. Industry insiders suggest that the continuing uncertainty over remote work will mean that only the very best quality buildings will thrive. Cushman and Wakefield reports a significant gap in office attendance between A+ and B class buildings in most U.S. markets. Executives responsible for deciding how much to invest in upgrades are faced with a challenging year, the company suggests.
MTA: Rent ‘Reprieves’ Preferable to Vacancies in the Subway System
The plight of the MTA is by no means unique in the U.S. when it comes to returning to pre-pandemic ridership. This has a knock-on effect on the small retail enterprises that serve customers in the system. Rather than allow boarded up facilities for newspaper and coffee stands, the MTA is continuing its rent relief practices for the foreseeable future to at least maintain the façade of normalcy.
Role of Universities, Hospitals as Activity Generators On Display in Vancouver
The transformation of inner city former ‘industrial’ areas such as South Flatz are emblematic of the benefits of introducing new uses into a well-located neighbourhood, signaling the emergence of a highly valued life sciences cluster. This is the case in Vancouver as the arrival of a new Emily Carr campus and other post-secondary investments stimulated by the donation of large sites from a former heavy industry. Also on the way is a massive new hospital and health campus anchored by St Paul’s, traditional a downtown entity. Although it won’t be open until 2027 the buzz associated with its construction is encouraging developers to invest in new labs as well as amenities that will be needed to serve the influx of a new daytime population.
Important to Remember What You Learned in Statistics 101
If you think back to your student days, you will no doubt recall that it is critically important to understand the difference between ‘correlation’ and ‘causation’: remembering this distinction will be helpful when reading this interesting but sometimes baffling article about ‘big data’ and its influence on the way cities are planned and managed. With examples from many jurisdictions, the ‘solutions’ identified by big data range from linking the absence of abandoned buildings and tree cover to predict gun violence to blindingly obvious links between reduced commuting as a result of work from home and economic pain for downtown service industries. The article nevertheless makes a useful distinction between “specifically designed data” such as information coming from the census to “opportunistic data” from cell phone usage etc. MIT researchers also note that such sources are constantly evolving as privacy requirements ramp up.
Just When You Thought You Had Heard Everything
Hard to believe, but there is a new breed of entertainers emerging to serve the poor souls who have to show up in soul-destroying office environments – meet the dog visitors, a new way to bring joy to over-stressed CEOs. “(CEOs) will come right into the pen snuggling the dogs. It’s adorable,” says Ms. McFadden, who founded Doggos, a Toronto-based company that puts on social and corporate dog events, in 2020.
“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],”