“You can’t stay in your pajamas all day! » During the winter of 2022, the new (Democratic) mayor of New York, Eric Adams, called on residents to return to office. “New Yorkers, it’s time to get back to work. You can’t tell me on Monday that you are afraid of Covid-19, while I see you at the disco on Sunday. » At the time, many thought that pressure from employers and rising unemployment due to inflation would lead to a return to normalcy. He’s been missing. “The return to the office is stalled”titled the Wall Street Journal, May 16th.
The share of US companies that require their employees to work full-time in the office dropped from 49% to 42% in three months. According to the Working from Home think tank, the percentage of employees who work remotely for at least six hours a week has certainly dropped from 61.5% in the midst of the pandemic to 28.4% in April, but this figure has nothing to do with the situation that prevailed until 2020, when working from home concerned only 4.6% of them.
They imperceptibly take the four-day week road, with deserted venues on Fridays. Thus, in New York, in January, the office occupancy rate was over 60% on Tuesday, but barely exceeded 25% on Friday.
Tax help
This situation represents a disaster for urban service activities. According to Working from Home, for every employee who works from home instead of traveling to Manhattan, $4,600 (about 4,250 euros) in revenue is not generated. “The accountant who is not in the office does not go to the dry cleaners or to the restaurant. This does not allow cooks, waiters, dishwashers [de gagner leur vie] »Mr. Adams accused.
The mayor has established tax breaks for the renovation of offices built before 2000. “Any empty office means less funding for everything from schools to low-income housing. » By definition, remote work is for “computer workers” in technology, banking and consulting, and very little for low-wage workers in hospitality, entertainment and retail. . It’s also a tragedy for City Hall: A third of its budget is funded by property taxes ($31 billion a year), 40% of which comes from commercial or office real estate.
Office occupancy rates in the 10 largest US cities have hovered near 50% for weeks, according to Kastle Systems, a security firm that monitors access card reads. Companies have taken the carrot and the stick to attract their employees. Second Wall Street JournalLaw firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP has threatened to reduce the bonuses of employees who are not present three days a week. In April, investment bank JP Morgan requested a five-day-a-week presence. As for Meta, Mark Zuckerberg’s studio has indicated that it no longer wants to recruit people completely remotely, leaving him to end up asking for a return to office.
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