New York City is seeing a gradual increase in office occupancy, as it has restored nearly 80% of its pre-pandemic rate, according to research by Placer.ai, a platform that specializes in location intelligence and foot traffic insights. The resurgence has primarily been driven by major Wall Street firms that have pushed for workers to return to the office, the report found.
During the pandemic, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon was not sold on operating virtually. “Most professionals learn their job through an apprenticeship model, which is almost impossible to replicate in the Zoom world,” Dimon said at the time.
The chief executive expressed his concern, stating, “Over time, this drawback could dramatically undermine the character and culture [of the company.]” According to Dimon, relying too much upon “Zoom meetings actually slows down decision making because there is little immediate follow-up.” With remote work, there is an absence of “spontaneous learning and creativity because you don’t run into people at the coffee machine, talk with clients in unplanned scenarios or travel to meet with customers and employees for feedback on your products and services,” said the head of JPMorgan.
Similarly, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, referring to the prevailing sentiment of working remotely during the Covid-19 outbreak, stated, “I do think for a business like ours, which is an innovative, collaborative apprenticeship culture, this is not ideal for us. And it’s not a new normal. It’s an aberration that we’re going to correct as soon as possible.”
Return-To-Office Insights
The return to office has been uneven across industries, according to data from the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit organization whose members are top business leaders and companies that employ more than 1 million New Yorkers. The sectors with below-average in-office attendance rates include tech (53%), media (52%) and accounting (42%).
A September 2023 survey of employers by the Partnership revealed that office attendance in New York City increased among larger firms. Additionally, a hybrid work model remained the most widely adopted office policy.
Additional Employer Survey Findings
- Sixty-four percent of companies operated on a hybrid schedule in 2023, while 27% of employers had a combination of roles that were hybrid, remote and in-office five days a week. Only 9% of companies enforced daily attendance.
- Among employers that implemented a hybrid model, around half (52%) required employees to work onsite a specified number of days per week or month. Forty percent required workers to be in the office on designated days. The remainder of employers offered flexibility and gave employees the autonomy to decide when to come into the office without enforcing an attendance threshold (7%) or only mandated they show up for certain events like client meetings (1%).
- New York City jobs that commonly require full-time, in-office attendance include facilities and office management, security personnel, corporate support, senior-executive roles and positions that pose security risks if performed offsite.
- Occupations that were commonly designated as fully virtual include those in call centers, customer service and support, information technology and project management.
The RTO Debate
In a July 2023 survey by management consulting firm McKinsey on hybrid work, respondents were asked to provide their top reasons for working in the office and at home.
Top reasons for working in the office included: to work with my team (20%), to comply with my employer’s policy (12%), to increase my productivity (11%), to meet my clients (10%) and to better access tools and technologies (9%).
Top reasons for working at home included: to save commuting time (20%), to increase my productivity (11%), to save money (9%), to increase social time with family (8%) and to work in a more pleasant space (7%).
New York City Mayor Eric Adams met with 100 chief executive officers in 2022, in an effort to cajole them “to get their workers back into the office to stimulate the city’s economy.”
He told the business leaders it was time to get their workers back in offices, stating that the lack of people commuting into the Big Apple hurts the city’s economy. The mayor said, “We can’t send mixed messages,” by delaying the return to work dates. “We can’t keep kicking the can down the road.”
Adams explained his thought process. The local economy depends upon people coming into New York. “That accountant from a bank that sits in an office, it’s not only him. It feeds our financial ecosystem. He goes to the cleaners to get his suits cleaned. He goes to the restaurant. He brings in a business traveler, which is 70% of our hotel occupancy. He buys a hot dog on our streets—I hope a vegan hot dog—but he participates in the economy.”
Source: Forbes
