The remote work trend keeps impacting US office building estates.
After two years of restrictions and lockdowns, most American relocated to different states and kept working remotely. As a result, US office building estates are transforming to welcome new remote work habits.
According to Kastle Systems, office occupancy averages cover 43.8% of pre-COVID data in 10 major metropolitan areas. For example, San Francisco records 34.7%, Austin 58.9%, and New York 41.2%. Another JLL report shows that nationwide office vacancy reached a 19.9% high during the first quarter.
Corporate giants like Apple, Google, and Goldman Sachs are testing different solutions to bring back employees to the office. However, most people prefer to remain remote, and most companies are reducing their office space.
Remote work isn’t impacting only US office building estate. For example, New York City’s restaurant employment stood at 276,800 jobs in May 2022 – 15% down from May 2019. Furthermore, US pedestrian traffic decreased almost 28% compared to 2019, confirming the number of people migrating to more affordable states.
Finally, DowntownDC Business Improvement District no-profit calculated Washington’s downtown economic activity. Data shows a decrease of 52% compared to pre-pandemic levels. And theater and museum attendance are down 50-70% of pre-lockdown levels. Same for food businesses.
Hybrid and remote models have become more popular. And the US office building estates represent the impact of remote work and change in professional habits in the United States.
