Weekly peak office attendance is still nowhere near pre-pandemic levels
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Office occupancy levels on the busiest day of the week are just 62% of their February 2020 average, according to Kastle Systems' office swipe data for 10 major metros.
Why it matters: It's been four years since COVID first shut down offices in the U.S., and the decline in office use has touched nearly all aspects of our lives — from where people live, to how they structure their work-family balance to the way companies operate.
- The shift is, of course, roiling the commercial real estate market, as Axios' Kate Marino wrote this week.
Zoom in: Peak office days, typically Tuesdays or Wednesdays, are a useful measure for employers who need to have space available for everyone who wants to come to work in person.
- And they give a better sense of the return to office momentum than Kastle's previous system of just publishing the five-day average, says Kastle CEO Haniel Lynn.
- While occupancy is at 61.7% on those high-attendance days, it falls to around 35% on Fridays.
- Those Fridays drag down the weekly average — it was only 52.5% for the week ending March 6.
The bottom line: The number on peak occupancy days has been creeping up, though isn't likely to go back to 100% anytime soon, says Lynn.
