Back To The Office?
I have been predicting for some time that office occupancy will go up over the next few years-in my opinion from the roughly 50% where we are now to perhaps 70% once all the corporate mandates become effective. However, we will not get anywhere close to the pre-Covid levels as there has been a transformational shift in how Corporate America does business. Work-from-home is here to stay in one format or another, whether it be a few days a week like much of Corporate America is stiving for, or five-days a week like a minority of employers are asking and hoping for. There are workers who relocated far from their offices or those who now vow never to go back to 3–4-hour daily commutes, and their bosses will either make exceptions or face the loss of what might be some of their most productive and valued employees. Some companies, including UPS and Boeing, are mandating employees come to the office five days a week. Bisnow March 7, 2024 “Some 95% of corporate leaders say employees will suffer consequences for not abiding by hybrid work demands, with 80% of leaders saying they will track attendance this year. But five-day-in-office policy is unlikely to grow significantly. 27% of U.S. CEO’s are focusing on maintaining hybrid work, compared to 4% who are looking to pull employees back to the office full time, according to The Conference Board’s 2024 C-Suite Outlook. “Google Has A New Return to Office Strategy – Keep Your Employees Overnight. They offer a $99 campus hotel room for hybrid workers to keep their three-day per week commitment. Meanwhile, according to one article “More than 75% of the available office space at 17 different federal agencies is still empty, according to the Government Accountability office. Agencies spend about $2 billion a year to operate and maintain federal office buildings and over $5 billion annually on leases. And one of the largest benefactors of office workers working from home is Zoom, with a plan that requires employees living within a 50 mile radius of an office to return two days a week. ‘But Zoom said even with the policy in place, 65% of workers are still remote because many don’t live near an office.
