Workers' return to the office has stalled in Atlanta
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Nearly three years after COVID upended the workplace in the U.S., signs point to a new normal starting to set in — and the old way of swiping an access badge five days a week could be gone for good.
What's happening: Workers' return to the office has stalled in Atlanta and across the country as employees and employers since workers and bosses have found a groove with hybrid work, according to an analysis of foot traffic from Placer.ai.
Why it matters: Offices and office workers help shape the look, feel and economy of cities. Dialing down their role means fewer working lunches at our restaurants and commuters on our public transportation.
Details: Office visits in Atlanta in November were down roughly 43% compared to 2019, according to the latest report from the company. That's up from 60% at the beginning of 2022, but still slightly below than the U.S. average.
- Nationwide, San Francisco is seeing the largest decline in office visits compared to pre-pandemic (58%) while New York is seeing the smallest (32%).
In the weeds: Placer.ai analyzes foot traffic data by measuring the number of visitors and number of visits in 800 commercial office buildings across the country. It does not include residential or mixed-use buildings.
Another view: Visitor volumes in Atlanta’s urban and suburban office markets are roughly 75% compared to just before the pandemic, according to CRE firm Avison Young's Vitality Index.
Yes, and: Hybrid work patterns are making companies — particularly large companies — rethink how much space they actually need.
What they're saying: "People are more comfortable making decisions now," Tim Wright of Avison Young told Axios.
- "We have a lot of conversations with companies. They’re like 'You know, we’ve been doing this for a couple of years and realize we don’t need as much space as we once did…' I think for large companies there’s been a hesitation to lease out a quarter million [square] feet."
Yes, but: Ken Ashley of Cushman & Wakefield told Axios he thinks the new normal has not arrived, and the advantages of in-person collaboration, decision-making and camaraderie will bump up visitor numbers in 2023.
- And don’t count out face time with bosses in a tighter economy: “Hustle is still a strategy,” he said. “And the idea that you would turn on the lights and turn off the lights is a time-honored way of demonstrating a commitment to the company or to the projects that we're working on.”