Returning to the Office: Employers vs Employees
Now over two years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the future of office space is still being decided. The rapid and successful adoption of remote work has made some say a physical office is no longer needed, while others argue the social interactions and collaboration the office provides cannot be replicated any other way.
Whatever the case may be, there is no doubt that the questions of when and if to return to the office are at the top of everyone’s mind. In this article, we’ll dig deeper into the subject of returning to the office by answering questions like:
What do employers want?
What do employees want?
What does the data show?
What Do Employers Want?
Surprisingly, employers are split on whether a return to the office is necessary (or even feasible) for their employees. While some industries like law firms and real estate brokerages have mostly gone back to work in a physical office due to the necessity for face-to-face interactions with clients, other industries have not. A 2022 study conducted by Microsoft, for example, found that only 50% of surveyed information employers are planning a return to office in the next year.
One factor that the majority of employers do share, however, is a shift in how the office is viewed. Prior to the pandemic, the office was seen as a central hub where most of an employee’s work would be conducted and most of an employee’s time would be spent. Many employers put effort into making their offices comfortable and welcoming spaces, but employees didn’t have much of a choice to work anywhere else.
Today, employers are viewing the office as a place for social interaction and collaboration rather than a place to sit in a cubicle and work on spreadsheets. Employers are focusing their attention on making the office a place their employees want to return to, encouraging employees to give up the comfort of their couch in exchange for the convenience of the office. To put it simply, employers are trying to make the office cool again.
It might still be a little early to say whether these efforts by employers are going to pay off in the long run, and the looming economic recession could throw additional variables into the “return to office” equation. However, for employers that do want to encourage their employees to return to the physical office, there’s no doubt that focusing on high-quality office space with ample amenities and a comfortable atmosphere will be key.
What Do Employees Want?
From an employee’s perspective, there’s one word that matters in the post-COVID workplace - flexibility.
After months of working remotely due to social distancing requirements brought about by the pandemic, many employees found that working outside of the office was not only feasible but preferable in many cases. Now more than two years after the start of the pandemic, the attractiveness of remote work continues for many. A survey conducted by McKinsey in spring 2022 found that 58% of surveyed Americans continue to have the opportunity to work from home at least one day a week. Of those employees, 87% choose to work remotely at least one day per week.
To put these findings in simpler terms, employees who have the opportunity to work from home continue choosing to do so. However, it’s important to note that the majority of employees are not choosing to work fully remotely (only 32% choose to do so according to the above survey). Instead, most employees are choosing to split their time between their home and the office by adopting a hybrid work schedule.
Companies are still searching for the best way to incorporate hybrid work schedules into their office space requirements, with some opting to retrofit their spaces to encourage social interaction and others choosing to downsize and adjust for fewer employees being in the office at once. For employees, finding an employer willing to accommodate a hybrid work schedule has become an important factor in the job selection process. The popularity of hybrid work doesn’t appear to be going away any time soon, so it will be interesting to see how it affects office space over the long term.
What Does the Data Show?
Now that we know what employers want and what employees want as far as returning to the office is concerned, what does the data show?
To answer that question we can look to two sources: Google mobility data and Kastle building utilization data.
As a part of Google’s COVID-19 mitigation efforts, the company has made publicly available a portion of its mobility data. This data, mostly collected from the smartphones that we all carry with us every day, can be used to estimate how different physical spaces are being used compared to their usage pre-pandemic. According to this data, the average number of visitors to workplaces in the U.S. remains roughly 20% below the pre-COVID benchmark. While this data is not solely focused on office buildings, it does show that physical workplaces are still not being used to their fullest extent.
Similarly, Kastle has begun publishing its Back to Work Barometer to measure the current utilization of office buildings. Using data collected by key fobs and access cards across 2,600 buildings in the U.S., Kastle has found that office occupancy across 10 major metros averages 43% as of August 2022. While this is still better than the 14.6% occupancy experienced in April 2020, it is well below the pre-COVID benchmark.
The findings from both of these data sources appear to indicate that the return to the office has not happened as quickly as some would have expected. Although most COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted and the majority of Americans have returned to what would be considered “normal” life, office spaces across the country are still feeling the effects.
Conclusion
Whether to return to the office and to what degree will likely be questions employers and employees grapple with for years to come. The pandemic undoubtedly shifted the way many Americans view work and has drawn a level of attention to the physical work environment that has not been experienced in years. The physical office is definitely not going away any time soon, but it may begin to look a little different.
