Office half full
3 years on from the start of the pandemic, American workers seem to be half-in-half-out, with US office occupancy hovering around the 50% mark, per data on office turnstile entries from Kastle Systems.
Interestingly, the US is quite unique in that fact, with other parts of the world heading back to the office in much greater numbers. As noted in the WSJ, office occupancy in Europe and the Middle East is back to 70-90%, while occupancy in some Asian cities is back towards 100%.
Workplace consultants have posited that one reason Americans have been more reluctant to resume their commute could simply be an issue of literal work space. Indeed, American homes tend to be larger relative to many European and Asian countries, with an average of 2.4 rooms per person in the US, making home-working more comfortable. Another reason could be the particularly tight labor market in the US, which has given employees more bargaining power to push for flexible arrangements.
Office half empty
While most workers say they prefer at least the option to work remotely, the low rate of office occupancy has damaged the economies of many inner cities. Local businesses in metropolitan areas like New York and San Francisco are struggling to bounce back, local authorities are missing the tax revenue, and mass transit systems like trains and buses in many major cities are still running nowhere near capacity.
