Returning to the rat race
Is Manhattan’s
back-to-theoffi
ce moment
fi nally here?
BY GREG DAVID
THE CITY
Early signs show momentum
to get workers back
to their desks in offi ces
— though some employers still
have no formal plans to return.
In the coming days, the corporate
bankers at Wells Fargo
will begin returning to their offi
ces on 42nd Street for the fi rst
time in two years, the last of the
major fi nancial fi rms to order a
return to in-person work.
This week, the staff at the
sprawling City University of New
York system will be required to
work seven out of every 10 business
days in their offi ces.
And widely watched data
from property management fi rm
Kastle Systems shows that offi
ce occupancy in New York City
has fi nally ticked back up above
30%, following a sharp plunge
in December when the omicron
coronavirus variant sent workers
who had been coming to offi ce
towers home.
Offi ce occupancy was already
expected to jump in March as
coronavirus case counts have
plunged. Actions by Governor
Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric
Adams to lift many pandemic
restrictions are likely to further
embolden employers to demand
their workers return to
their offi ces.
“We had a horrible lull in January,
but activity seems to be picking
up,” said Barbara Blair, head
of the Garment District Alliance.
Pedestrian traffi c in the area
in late February fi nally topped
500,000 per day again.
Yet the extent of the rebound,
and how many days those workers
will actually be in their offi ces,
has yet to become clear.
For example, the Wells Fargo
corporate bankers are likely to
be asked at fi rst to come to the
offi ce only two days a week.
The Wall Street Journal announced
it would leave up to
individual teams how many days
they would come to their Sixth
BUSINESS
People return to offi ces in Midtown, Feb. 25, 2022.
Avenue newsroom. And the
New York Times has yet to set
any deadline for a return to its
40th Street headquarters.
New York desperately needs
those offi ce workers to return and
start spending money on lunches,
drinks after work and other shopping
if its lagging economic recovery
is to gain momentum.
The latest employment numbers
show that as of December,
the city remains 413,000 jobs
below the record set in February
2020 (using seasonally adjusted
numbers), or 9%. Nationally, the
U.S. is only 2% below its peak
employment, and many other cities
have exceeded their pre-pandemic
totals.
The city’s unemployment rate
in December declined slightly to
8.8% but remains more than double
the national fi gure of 3.9% —
and the drop was mostly a result
of people leaving the workforce,
not becoming employed.
Business lunches
back
Like the Garment District,
SoHo is seeing a rebound as
offi ce workers come back after
the omicron plunge in
in-person attendance.
“There are a lot more people
coming in to do proper business
lunches over the past couple of
weeks,” said John McDonald,
owner of Lure Fish Bar on Mercer
Street. “We are also starting
to see groups that are coming for
after-work drinks.”
Still, his business remains
10% to 15% below
pre-pandemic levels.
Two fi gures will be key to
speeding the economy: total offi
ce occupancy and how many
days a week workers do come into
the city’s business districts.
Before the pandemic in March
2020, 95% of workers came to
the offi ce every day, according to
Kastle data. When the city shut
down, the fi gure plummeted to
5%, recovered to almost 30%
last fall, and then plunged again
in December.
Big cities in Texas show occupancy
at 50%, the national average
is almost 37%, and only San
Jose, Calif., reports a fi gure lower
than New York.
Hochul and Adams have spent
the last several weeks cajoling
companies to bring back their
workers. “Business leaders, tell
everybody to come back. Give
them a bonus to burn the Zoom
app,” Hochul implored. The governor
lifted New York’s mask-orvax
mandate for indoor businesses
on February 10, and followed
suit with a plan to end school
mask mandates this week.
And on Sunday, Adams said
that the city was preparing to end
vaccine mandates for gyms, restaurants
and theaters on March 7,
as long as COVID indicators continue
to trend downward.
The mayor, however, kept in
place a vaccination mandate for
private employers, a move that
will keep the Brooklyn Nets’
Kyrie Irving from playing home
games but is unlikely to affect
most companies, since the vast
majority of those called back to
offi ces are vaccinated, said Kathy
Wylde CEO of the Partnership for
New York City.
Not everyone
returning
The Partnership’s last survey,
in January, found only 38% of
employers expected more than
half of their employees at their
desks by the end of March. A
big increase in that number in
HIRAM ALEJANDRO DURÁN/THE CITY
the next survey scheduled to be
released in April would show
the back-to-the-offi ice trend
is taking hold.
The actions by the governor
and mayor are likely to encourage
companies to lift their own selfimposed
rules, Wylde suggested.
“At this point, the lifting of
mask requirements is more important
for restoring a sense of
normalcy in the workplace,”
she said.
McDonald agrees, saying ending
the requirement that his customers
prove they are vaccinated
will be a big step.
Many business people say
the mayor has other issues he
must address.
“There is work to be done
which includes making sure that
quality of life and crime issues
remain in the forefront and are
property dealt with,” said Don
Winter, chair of the Manhattan
Chamber of Commerce.
This article was originally
published on Feb. 28 by THE
CITY, an independent, nonprofit
news outlet dedicated to hardhitting
reporting that serves the
people of New York. Read more
at thecity.nyc.
14 March 3, 2022 Schneps Media