Hybrid Office Schedules Beginning To Take Focus

In a recent New York Times article by Emma Goldberg, “Business leaders are in a phase of trial and error that comes with staggering stakes. They are figuring out how many days to call employees back to the office, and on to of that, how strictly to enforce their own rules.”  Office occupancy is now at half what it was pre-pandemic. In Manhattan, according to one report, 82% are maintaining hybrid policies in 2023. “So the corporate experts – McKinsey, Mercer, PricewaterhouseCoopers – have all consulted their crystal balls and declared: he future is hybrid.” One downside of this is “Researchers estimate that office real estate values will plunge 39% from pre-pandemic  levels in the upcoming years.” There will also be significant fallout in the downtowns where absent office workers are not spending money at restaurants and coffee shops which will mean deceased tax revenues for local governments. Buildings in California among other states are being appealed for lower property taxes which will gain have a negative effect on local government revenue. What are your thoughts on this? Jeff.Weil@Colliers.com