Average weekly - 78%
Peak Day - Wednesday 87%
Low Day - Friday 52%
The index is beginning to show signs of levelling in the last 3 months. Ridership on the downtown subway line 1, is also showing signs of leveling off. While ridership elsewhere is almost back to pre-COVID use. More importantly, time spend in the office during the workday has become more irregular. People are either coming in off or leaving during nontraditional peak traffic hours. The old 9-to-5 norm is clearly changing as a result of flexible time in the office. This is leading to new peak times for auto traffic and subway use.
Hotly debated in recent articles of interest and interviews is the changing approach to remote work in highly competitive financial services sector in urban markets like New York, London, Paris, San Francisco and Toronto especially amongst new workers in the workplace. Expect this trend to heighten as CEOs demand more in-office work putting pressure on more established workers.
Early June data continues to see a leveling off of in-office work.
Your SRRA Team,
Links to Articles of Interest
Canadian Tire and Oxford/OMERS Investment Signals Support for Centrally-Located Offices
Retrofitting existing office space is worthy of a $200M investment, according to Blake Hutchison, president and CEO, OMERS. “This Canadian-led partnership includes a 550,000 square foot, 20-year office lease with CTC, demonstrates the enduring appeal of centrally located, transit-connected workplaces and representing a major investment in Toronto's urban core,” said Hutchison. The redevelopment of 2180 and 2200 Yonge Street represents a combined investment of over $200 million by Canada Square co-owners Oxford and CT REIT. “The two office towers will be retrofitted to deliver 680,000 square feet of highly functional and modernized office space, over 80% of which will be anchored by CTC. Having operated its head office at Canada Square for over 50 years, CTC is also investing to build a next-generation headquarters for thousands of employees,” said Canadian Tire’s president.
The Debate Continues: Buyer’s Remorse for Hybrid Work Conditions?
The results of an in-depth survey probing the effectiveness of hybrid work arrangements concludes that the “new normal” isn’t working for many employees and their employers. But many companies that would like to revert to a previous normal where people actually came to work in an office no longer have that option, having let their offices go in the rush to go fully remote. Readers of this space will have seen many swings of the pendulum since March 2020. If, however, you are willing to devote ten minutes to consume yet another article on the topic, we recommend that this could be time well spent. New hires suffer. Collaboration and learning levels drop. Meetings are less effective. The wrong people get promoted. Culture deteriorates. Loyalty/commitment to the firm weakens. People remain socially isolated. The list goes on: but the article also suggests short-term fixes until you can find new office space.
Scotiabank the Latest to Bring Workers Back Four Days a Week
For employees in the Greater Toronto Area, the call to return to the office for four days most likely was no surprise. “We know having our teams working together in-person has many benefits — greater collaboration, higher engagement, more career development opportunities and a stronger culture and sense of belonging,” said spokesperson Katie Raskina, in an emailed statement to Benefits Canada.
But Consultant Warns that Banks First Need to Re-Establish Quality Office Space
From the desk of someone who knows what he is talking about comes a hard-hitting memo to banker C-Suites. If you’re serious about wanting staff back in the office, ditch hoteling and start creating places people actually want to gather in. “Effective communication is crucial to execution, sustaining a positive work culture and stamping out toxic work behaviours that undercut performance,” suggests the Globe’s columnist – who also happens to be a regulatory compliance consultant and banking historian. He bolsters his own views with reference to a peer-reviewed Harvard study showing a significant drop in productivity linked to hybrid and remote work.
Toronto Still Struggling to Make Sense of Employment Lands Conflicts
Advocates for creating affordable housing are storming the procedural barricades, where planners constrained with having to defend policies designed to protect employment lands are increasingly finding their backs against the wall. The latest dispute involves a project proposed for Etobicoke but is complicated by shifting requirements imposed by the province as well as dealing with legacy issues that defined “employment lands” very broadly to include large format retail. A city statement provides an insight into the dilemma. “City Planning balances the provincial direction to protect economically vital employment areas with the City’s housing objectives,” the statement said. “Over the last few years ... staff reviewed over 150 requests for conversion on employment lands and recommended 64 conversions to allow residential uses to Council, which typically have affordable housing requirements.”
JP Morgan Confesses to Have Underestimated Its Need for Office Space by 7000 desks
Good news for Canary Wharf: After years of cutting back, the banking behemoth is set to commit to a large swath of new space in one of London’s premier locations.
We-Work – a Phoenix Among Real Estate Plays Rises from the Ashes
Two years after its latest flirtation with bankruptcy. We-Work is once again adding locations throughout North America, including Canada. Dubbed the “brand that refused to die,” We-Work is gaining traction as an alternative for companies unwilling to invest in their own real estate.
“The Occupancy Index is supported by the City of Toronto, Downtown Yonge BIA, and Downtown West BIA. It is a measure of the percentage of office employees returning to the office compared to the number of employees who would normally have come to their offices pre-COVID. For a detailed description of the calculation please contact Iain Dobson at idobson@srraresearch.org,”
