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Originally Posted by djforsberg
…we are certainly going to be needing less office space even after things open back up. I also know others that work at various companies in Regina that are based downtown who will be working from home permanently…
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While many businesses (retail, restos, medical, dental, law firms, banks, etc) will continue to have a need for staff to be in-person, the long-term exodus of employees from downtowns will have significant ripple effects. Some of those businesses with a need for staff in-person may re-evaluate their location, if the daytime customer base is 30-50% of what it was pre-pandemic.
I know several (large) employers that have explicitly told staff that work-from-home is the new standard. In-person is on an exception-basis. They’re looking to shed downtown leased-space. AND they’ve probably heard from employees that a return to the office will cause them seek other opportunities.
Other than provincial government & prov Crowns (optics, I believe) - I’m not hearing of many employers with plans to mandate a shift back to an office-based workforce. There’ll still be people who choose to work from a downtown office, but in many cases, this will be a choice (no space at home; internet issues; need for social interaction; etc)
When my downtown employer approves larger-scale return (we’re at 5-10% in-office right now), at best I’ll choose 2 day per week downtown. My spouse, by contrast, went back to FT downtown (by choice) this week. She’s one of the few - office is maaaybe at 15%.
Ivy 2025, downtown will look completely different from 2019. Great opportunity to reshape it & encourage more restaurants, pubs, entertainment, etc. The parking infrastructure will also need a shake-up - it was excessive in 2019. Will be massively over-built in 2025, given typical daytime occupancy drop.