Real Estate Firms Lead Manhattan in Return to Office

The real estate industry has the highest average daily office attendance in New York City as of mid-September, according to a survey of more than 160 major Manhattan office employers between Aug. 29 and Sept. 12.

As of mid-September, its daily attendance is at 82%, followed by law (61%) and financial services (56%) firms.

The survey conducted by The Partnership for New York City was intended to gauge the extent to which employees have returned to the office or are still working remotely.

The survey further showed that real estate firms expect average daily attendance to remain at 82% by January 2023 and 20% of companies plan to increase their New York City real estate footprint in the next five years.

For the survey, the financial services (34%) sector led the group of respondents, followed by real estate (18%), law (11%), media (7%), and tech (5%).

More Than Half of Manhattan Workers Back by Year’s End

Overall, the number of workers showing up to the office is rising, with 49% of Manhattan office workers are currently at the workplace on an average weekday, up from 38% in April. The survey said the percentage for Manhattan should exceed 50% by the end of 2022.

However, today, only 9% of employees are in the office five days a week and 55% of employees are in the office at least three days a week; 16% of Manhattan office workers are fully remote, according to the survey.

Only 1% Say ‘Covid’ is Preventing a Return

A large majority (59%) of companies are offering incentives to employees who return to the office. The most common are social activities (49% offering), free or discounted meals (41%), transportation subsidies (11%), and child care support (7%).

Asked why employees do not want to work in the office, only 1% of companies cited either fear of COVID-19 contagion or difficulty managing childcare duties. This represented a significant shift in sentiment from previous surveys, according to The Partnership for New York City. Nearly a quarter (24% said they didn’t want to come in because public transit is not safe or reliable.

Upswing in Catering Signals More Office Workers

An interesting metric that is signaling office returns in New York City is office catering. Food has proven to be an incentive to have workers return to the office as well as the regular lunch crowd.

Diane Swint, chief demand officer at ezCater, said orders during the second week of September were up more than 400% compared to the second week in January. She said that warehouses and retail locations are feeding employees who were working overtime to meet recent, high demand.

“From our perspective, ‘return to office’ officially boomed this week and it isn’t slowing down,” Swint said.