As mandates to return to work become more common, the question remains: are workers actually returning to their companies’ offices? According to June 2023 metrics released by Placer.ai, the answer is yes. By analyzing foot traffic from 800 office buildings nationwide, Placer.ai analysts indicated that foot traffic had decreased 39.7% compared with the same period in 2019; however this decrease narrowed down significantly by June 2023 at 35%. Moreover, it was reported that “foot traffic reached its highest level since before the pandemic” in some cities such as New York City and Miami while San Francisco lagged behind other regions due to its tech-heavy industry sector. All analyzed cities showed greater recovery during June than they did on average for first half of year overall as well according data provided by Placer ai experts .
Despite these encouraging signs of recovery for back-to-office movement , dwell time (time spent inside office) has dropped significantly since 2019 which could indicate sustained power of hybrid working environment . Ethan Chernofsky , Senior Vice President of Marketing at Placer ai commented “Considering efforts made bring employees back regularly , data could suggest sustained power hybrid work…At this stage it is clear that hybrid work has fundamental and lasting impact on office behavior” It appears then that current numbers may be suggesting shift towards new normal but whether or not this trend will continue remains yet unknown .
