America is going back to the office
Image: YouTube/Billy Madison (1995)
There were more US workers in the office for the first full week after Labor Day than at any point since the pandemic began, per new data from key-card entry firm Kastle Systems.
🏢📈 A deeper dive… Office usage across America’s 10 largest metro areas came in at 47.5% of pre-pandemic attendance last week – up from 43.4% the previous week. Tuesday and Wednesday were the most popular for in-office work, with Kastle’s data showing a 55% occupancy rate on those two days.
And that’s not all – other data points indicate more Americans are returning to the office, too.
- 3.7 million people rode NYC’s subways last week, the highest total since March 2020. Individual commuter trains like the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad also set pandemic-era records for ridership.
- Downtown Houston experienced a 10 percentage-point rise in office occupancy last week (53% → 63%), per Central Houston Inc., which monitors the movement of mobile phones entering office buildings.
🤔 The schedule of the future: how do workers feel?... A majority of US employees (60%) would prefer a hybrid remote-work job that involves at least one day per week in the office, per recent polling from Gallup. 34% would prefer to work exclusively remote, while just 6% want to go back to the office full-time – down from 60% pre-pandemic.
- A separate Axios-Harris survey found millennials are the most likely generation to say remote work is important to them (84%), followed by Gen X (75%), Boomers (68%), and Gen Z (66%).
📊 Flash poll: Which work schedule would you personally prefer?
See a 360° view of what the media is saying →
Sprinkles from the Left
- Some commentators argue that the pandemic has forever altered the way employees think about their work-life balance – and for the better, too.
- Others contend that employers need to quickly adapt to the new normal that is work-from-home or a hybrid version, and those who insist on returning to fully in-person work are destined to fail.
- “Out of office: The pandemic and the new meaning of work” –WaPo Editorial Board
- “Remote work is the reality of the future.” –St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial Board
- “Questions about the future of work at a time of great change” –Newsday Editorial Board
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that companies should try their best to only require workers to be back in the office when absolutely necessary.
- Others contend that an upcoming economic recession will only serve to increase the overall share of US employees who are working from home, as a focus on company profits means retaining the best talent – which means offering strong WFH policies.
- “Managing the work from home rebellion” –Peter Morici, Washington Times
- “A recession will actually boost remote work” –Gleb Tsipursky, Washington Examiner
- “A Boss Ordered All Workers Back to the Office a Year Ago. He Has No Regrets.” –Chip Cutter and Katherine Bindley, WSJ
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