Average weekly - 51%
Peak Day - Wednesday 62%
Slow Day - Monday 34%
June continues to find more people returning to the office with a slight increase on Monday and Fridays. As discussed at the SRRA’s 18th Forum held this past month, exit survey data reveals that the top reasons for people leaving their jobs remain the same as pre-pandemic (career pathing, issues with leadership, compensation and work/life balance).
Interviews reveal senior people are increasing their time in the office throughout the week to assist in mentoring young and new employees. Employers are developing new and more accurate sources of data on productivity revealing compelling reasons for in-office attendance.
The canary in the coal mine for either the hybrid model or more allowable remote work will be productivity. New data is emerging showing productivity has fallen off since the first 9 months of the pandemic when the emergency application of remote work didn’t initially reduce productivity.
The next Index is scheduled for week of July 26th, 2023.
Your SRRA Team,
Links to Articles of Interest
Power Shift! Emboldened by Layoffs, ‘Tech’ is Mandating a Return to the Office
The Wall Street Journal reports on a new JLL survey that finds major players like Google, Meta and Salesforce have changed their tune on remote work, signaling that employers may “have the upper hand” as they require staff spend more time in the office. As of mid-May, more than half a million workers have received this message, one third of whom are in the tech space.
and Disney reports calling workers back for four out of five days. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-16/working-from-home-becomes-a-once-a-week-treat-for-more-office-goers?srnd=premium-europe#xj4y7vzkg
Or the alternative! Remote Work Still Has Advocates in the C-Suite
Some major U.S. companies (like Yelp and Hubspot) remain committed to remote work, Bloomberg’s Work Shift newsletter is reporting. If there is a common denominator among the companies that remain bullish on WFH it is that they all have a high proportion of software engineers who can code without much need for interaction with others. Citigroup, on the other hand, which had been a champion of WFH in the early days of the pandemic, is now reducing the amount of flexibility that its workers have.
Remote Workers Earn More than Those that are Office-Bound but…..
The depth of research for this article would probably not earn you a PhD but it poses some interesting questions, nonetheless. According to surveys of LinkedIn job postings, ‘remote capable’ jobs pay almost 10% more than jobs requiring presence in the office. Of all the possible explanations, the notion that companies are passing on savings from not having to pay for office space stands out! Really? Six paragraphs in comes the ‘but.’ The big problem with remote work it seems is that ‘bosses’ fall prey to ‘proximity bias,’ a polite way of saying that if managers don’t know you that won’t promote you. Referencing a Harvard report cited in this space previously, people working remotely don’t get the mentoring or feedback that helps improve job performance.
As highlighted in a great presentation from Maeve Cashin at SRRA’s recent Forum, the age-old criteria that determine job satisfaction are still ‘good or bad managers,’ ‘pathway to advancement,’ ‘working life balance,’ and ‘compensation.’ The latter criterion must be significant to outweigh the other three, HR professionals might conclude.
https://fortune.com/2023/06/22/remote-workers-outearning-in-office-peers/amp/
One Major Player is Looking at AI to Replace Office Workers as a Way to Stay Competitive
When the world’s largest asset manager starts blaming falling productivity on remote work (and inflation), it is not surprising that a frustrated CEO might start investigating alternatives. At a recent investor day meeting, Blackrock’s CEO threw down the AI gauntlet. Time will tell how this idea plays out.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/blackrock-ceo-larry-fink-blamed-100817540.html
Lessons in City Building – New York’s Hudson Yards Success Inspired by Strength of “trophy” office projects
It isn’t often that a prominent municipal politician goes out of his way to admit he underestimated the role that New York’s Hudson Yards development could contribute to city coffers, but that’s what took place in the Big Apple recently. There were billions of dollars at risk, but the massive west-side development is now contributing millions more in revenue to the city through the property tax base than had been anticipated. A couple of key sentences in the comptroller’s speech might resonate with Toronto politicians looking at the feasibility of “investing” in a rail deck park in downtown Toronto. “I don’t think parks and subways are subsidies. That’s the role of government to encourage growth of the city,” he noted.
Sustaining a Return to the Office Not a Slam Dunk, Houston’s Experience Shows
The city of Houston has not been able to sustain the percentage of office workers returning to the office, new reports suggest. Lengthy commutes are cited as a principal reason for the drop in numbers.
Amazon Expands Its Office Footprint at the Top of ScotiaPlaza
As more of its employees return to the office, Amazon has been refurbishing but also expanding its office footprint in downtown Toronto. The company now has more than 3,500 staff in three locations. Each space is tailored to the specialized needs of the teams working there. And in a throw-back to boom times pre-pandemic, Amazon is allowing employees to bring their dogs to work. When the office is on the 47th floor, this could require careful planning!
https://storeys.com/inside-amazon-downtown-toronto-office/
Adopting a Principle-Based Approach to Remote Work the Way to Go (maybe)
Focus on your company’s “purpose and culture” and follow a set of prescriptive principles as an alternative to whatever the practice is now. The author of this article dissects differences between a firm policy, a set of guidelines, and a principle-based approach.
April 1 in July?
As far as we can tell this report about a new federal program is not a spoof. The federal government plans to launch a digital nomad strategy for foreigners who want to work remotely in Canada. It's one of five initiatives Ottawa plans to implement to attract global tech talent to Canada. Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser made the announcement at a recent conference in Toronto.
https://www.blogto.com/city/2023/06/canada-launching-new-digital-nomad-plan-foreign-remote-workers/
“The Occupancy Index is supported by the City of Toronto, Downtown Yonge BIA, and Downtown West 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],”