The big question in the office sector of CRE is when will people return to the office. A line of government data that's been building since May 2020 suggests that tens of millions already have. But, if so, why do so many in real estate and corporate management feel that the future of the office is still so uncertain?

According to survey data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 35.4% of all workers, or 48.7 million, teleworked because of the pandemic in May of 2020. Forward to July 2021 and the figure was down to 20.3 million, or 13.2%. In November, it dropped to 17.5 million, or 11.3%. A big improvement, but one that is slowing and still represents more than 10% of the entire civilian workforce of nearly 162.1 million.

There are some caveats to the data. First, it only refers to people who worked from home due to the pandemic. If the telework is unrelated, it isn't counted. So, if work-from-home arrangements have become routine, they might no longer be picked up.