Office Demand Continues Its Slow Climb

Office workers may not have yet returned to the office—but data from the first quarter of this year shows that demand is beginning a slow upswing.

Data from Kastle Systems, which installs security systems in office properties showed that just 27.8% of employees in 10 of the country’s biggest cities worked from an office during the week of May 12, down from pre-pandemic stats of 92.4% in early March of last year. In cities like San Francisco and New York, which had the most restrictive lockdown policies, just 15.6% and 17% of office workers were back in a physical office during that time. Cities in Texas, which opened sooner than many other states, tended to fall in the mid-40% range. Contrast that with CBRE data from April which showed that 65% of people surveyed said they’d started returning to the office, up from 58% in January.