Bloomberg News reports that Americans’ return to their offices remains uncertain in the past week as the occupancy at offices across the larger cities remains unchanged or negligible. Meanwhile, efforts of New York City to get its officegoers back to their workstations were hindered due to the religious holidays.
As far as the average occupancy at offices in the ten cities in the United States is concerned for the week that ended September 28th, it was found that the figure dropped a little to 47.2% from 47.3% in the earlier week as per data of card swipe obtained by the security firm Kastle Systems. Almost 50% of the cities that Kastle kept a tab on the manifested decline over the same period, including the New York metro area, where only 43.5% of the workers showed up. This figure was down a week earlier by as much as 46.1%. It is quite likely that the results of the Big Apple were skewed by Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish holiday, due to which schools remained closed for two days.
The migration back to the office that several CEOs and top management individuals had assumed would take place did not materialize. It was assumed that after Labor Day, many would return physically to office premises.
The fact that people can work with flexibility in choosing when to work and where to work is practically non-negotiable, especially for the ones with white-collar jobs. Job openings in the US dropped to the lowest in 12 months, indicating that labor demand remains moderate.
Bloomberg News reports that, as per the National Bureau of Economic Research’s study, the appeal of flexible work arrangements might reduce the value of office properties in New York by as much as $50 billion.
There are several hybrid setups that the companies are trying to experiment with. Some companies trying the same include Cisco Systems Inc, which is also testing for a four-day-a-week model. Last week, General MotorsCo retreated on a plan wherein it wanted its employees to return to the office several days every week until any change is brought about in the next year. Aside from a few other bigger names among employers, the return to office mandate at Apple Inc has suffered a similar setback and faced resistance in the last few months.
According to Leagh Turner, the co-chief executive officer associated with Ceridian HCM Holding Inc reveals that those employers that say that the employees must return to the office are the ones that operate through the dated lens. Ceridian provides work management software tools. He also said that this is not how the world will function again.
