The trend continues. BlackRock -- the world's largest asset manager with about 20,000 employees in more than 30 countries -- announced today that employees need to be in the office at least 4 days a week starting this September. This is an increase from the current 3 days a week.
You can't read the news today without seeing some sort of headline about the demise of downtowns. But what is clear from announcements like these is that we still have yet to reach an equilibrium. And it's probably just taking a lot longer than most people initially anticipated.
I know that this is a very divisive topic and that many of you think I'm old school for continuing to say this. But I fundamentally believe that there are irreplaceable benefits to in-person interactions among teams. I don't know, maybe it's because of my architecture background.
In architecture school you're expected to spend all of your time "working in studio." And even though you're often working and producing things on your own, you do it so that you can be around your peers, shout out questions when you need help, learn from their work, and go for burritos and beers together.
The trend continues. BlackRock -- the world's largest asset manager with about 20,000 employees in more than 30 countries -- announced today that employees need to be in the office at least 4 days a week starting this September. This is an increase from the current 3 days a week.
You can't read the news today without seeing some sort of headline about the demise of downtowns. But what is clear from announcements like these is that we still have yet to reach an equilibrium. And it's probably just taking a lot longer than most people initially anticipated.
I know that this is a very divisive topic and that many of you think I'm old school for continuing to say this. But I fundamentally believe that there are irreplaceable benefits to in-person interactions among teams. I don't know, maybe it's because of my architecture background.
In architecture school you're expected to spend all of your time "working in studio." And even though you're often working and producing things on your own, you do it so that you can be around your peers, shout out questions when you need help, learn from their work, and go for burritos and beers together.
At the beginning of this month, the Government of Canada issued this direction, setting out the requirement for all public servants to be "in the workplace" at least three days per week. To ensure some flexibility, it also specified that it didn't have to be exactly this schedule. But the intent was that public servants would need to spend a minimum of 60% of their regular schedules, in the workplace, whether measured on a weekly or monthly basis.
Immediately, the Public Service Alliance of Canada reacted and said that it would be filing "unfair labor practice" complaints: “We will be using every recourse we have available to fight this mandate,” PSAC national president Chris Aylward said, arguing that the surprise policy update was “anti-worker” and “fundamentally breaks the trust of workers and unions with the Trudeau government.”
Now, I understand that there are a whole host of legal considerations with a mandate like this. If remote work has, for example, become an implied term of these employment relationships, then it might be difficult for any employer to call these people back. Thankfully, I am not a lawyer. And so I don't think this way. It is probably also the case that I'm now in my middle adulthood and have old school views on this topic.
Because in my mind, this is the government saying, "hey everyone who works for us, we'd like you to come into the office at least three days a week so that we can work together as a team, collaborate, and hopefully innovate." And this is employees saying, "no way, that's totally unfair! How dare you demand we come into the office that much?" Like, since when did going into work become such a problem?
At the beginning of this month, the Government of Canada issued this direction, setting out the requirement for all public servants to be "in the workplace" at least three days per week. To ensure some flexibility, it also specified that it didn't have to be exactly this schedule. But the intent was that public servants would need to spend a minimum of 60% of their regular schedules, in the workplace, whether measured on a weekly or monthly basis.
Immediately, the Public Service Alliance of Canada reacted and said that it would be filing "unfair labor practice" complaints: “We will be using every recourse we have available to fight this mandate,” PSAC national president Chris Aylward said, arguing that the surprise policy update was “anti-worker” and “fundamentally breaks the trust of workers and unions with the Trudeau government.”
Now, I understand that there are a whole host of legal considerations with a mandate like this. If remote work has, for example, become an implied term of these employment relationships, then it might be difficult for any employer to call these people back. Thankfully, I am not a lawyer. And so I don't think this way. It is probably also the case that I'm now in my middle adulthood and have old school views on this topic.
Because in my mind, this is the government saying, "hey everyone who works for us, we'd like you to come into the office at least three days a week so that we can work together as a team, collaborate, and hopefully innovate." And this is employees saying, "no way, that's totally unfair! How dare you demand we come into the office that much?" Like, since when did going into work become such a problem?
At the same time, Canada is suffering from an existential productivity problem. This country has seen no productivity growth in recent years. And if you compare us to other developed countries, we are near the bottom. Even France -- which is stereotypically famous for its relaxed work culture and its ban on after-work emails -- is more productive than were are!
This needs to change or we will remain a deeply troubled country. And like everything, it's going to require work.
Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash
At the same time, Canada is suffering from an existential productivity problem. This country has seen no productivity growth in recent years. And if you compare us to other developed countries, we are near the bottom. Even France -- which is stereotypically famous for its relaxed work culture and its ban on after-work emails -- is more productive than were are!
This needs to change or we will remain a deeply troubled country. And like everything, it's going to require work.
Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash
One of my arguments around return to office is that we have not yet reached a post-pandemic equilibrium. Meaning, we're still in the process of coming back and it's probably too early to say where exactly we will end up.
The latest data (above) from the Strategic Regional Research Alliance (which is for Toronto) seems to suggest exactly this. Office occupancy continues to steadily increase from its low point in the middle of COVID.
We are now seeing an average weekly occupancy of 63%, a low day occupancy (Friday) of 40%, and a peak day occupancy (Wednesday) of 73%. All of these figures are relative to the number of people working in offices prior to the pandemic.
One of my arguments around return to office is that we have not yet reached a post-pandemic equilibrium. Meaning, we're still in the process of coming back and it's probably too early to say where exactly we will end up.
The latest data (above) from the Strategic Regional Research Alliance (which is for Toronto) seems to suggest exactly this. Office occupancy continues to steadily increase from its low point in the middle of COVID.
We are now seeing an average weekly occupancy of 63%, a low day occupancy (Friday) of 40%, and a peak day occupancy (Wednesday) of 73%. All of these figures are relative to the number of people working in offices prior to the pandemic.
And it was such a fun and creative experience for me that I can't imagine what it would have been like had I been forced to work from my apartment. I probably would have had an equal number of burritos, but maybe a lot less beer?
It is, once again, hard to say where this will ultimately settle. But my gut tells me that this climb still has a ways to go.
And it was such a fun and creative experience for me that I can't imagine what it would have been like had I been forced to work from my apartment. I probably would have had an equal number of burritos, but maybe a lot less beer?
It is, once again, hard to say where this will ultimately settle. But my gut tells me that this climb still has a ways to go.
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Brandon Donnelly
Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly.
Brandon Donnelly
Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly.