NEW YORK — After opposing the idea for some time, New York City Mayor Eric Adams appears to be more open to the idea of allowing city employees to work from home than he was a year ago.
He pulled the plug on the idea of remote work for city employees in 2022, saying early in his term as mayor: “One thing that can’t happen: You can’t stay home in your pajamas all day. That’s not who we are as a city.” “.
But now it seems that Adams has evolved on the issue, acknowledging this week that “we’re telling our agencies to come up with creative ways to have flexibility.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul said it’s been a longer transition back to office work than anyone expected, as she had also predicted (if not demanded) a stronger return-to-work schedule. But now it seems she’s opening up to the idea, whether she likes it or not.
“I think the mayor is just acknowledging reality. We have a shortage of workers, especially in government,” Hochul said, adding that a stronger office pattern could still come in the future. “I think this is all transitory, it doesn’t have to be the death sentence in five days a week anymore, but we’re not there yet.”
In a speech in the Garment District on Wednesday, he said more offices could be converted into housing, something badly needed in a city experiencing a shortage of affordable housing.
“There’s a lot of square footage here,” he said.
Kathryn Wylde, of the Pro-Business Partnership for New York City, said the numbers tell the story.
“Less than 10 percent of office workers return five days a week,” he said. “I think the mayor is getting the message that the world has changed.”
Wylde added that unless an employer, including the City Council, offers a work-from-home option, job openings may remain unfilled.
“We’re going to have to work with the employees, they’re driving the bus here,” Wylde said.
The change of mind occurs after a Bloomberg News study will show that the shift to remote work in Manhattan means that the island’s office workers are spending about $12 billion less each year than before the pandemic. Workers spend about 30 percent less time in the office, which has reduced their annual spending near the office on food, entertainment and the like by an average of nearly $4,700 per person, according to the University’s data analysis. from Stanford.
While the same is true in other big cities, the cost per person is more than 50 percent worse in New York City than anywhere else, Bloomberg found. The study tracks with other data sets that suggest that, nearly three years after New York City’s first COVID case, people simply haven’t returned to full-time office work.
However, some neighborhoods (mainly the more residential ones) have seen a surprising increase as people who work from home go out to lunch and shop in places not used to midday business.
