- Manhattan office attendance is 15% higher than the national average, and Mondays see 29.3% more foot traffic than last year.
- Law firms and media/entertainment companies are driving the return to offices in NYC, with attendance up by over 20% YoY.
- Nationally, overall office occupancy rates are still below pre-pandemic levels, with buildings at about 62% of their June 2019 activity.
As reported in The Real Deal, the return-to-office trend is gaining a full head of steam in Manhattan. In fact, a recent report reveals that NYC office workers are heading back to their desks 15% more often than the rest of the country.
Back to Business
According to the “Office Busyness Index” compiled by Avison Young and Placer.ai, Mondays are leading all weekdays, with Manhattan office attendance up by nearly 29.3% compared to last year.
This is not the case for the rest of the week. Tuesday attendance is up 11%, while Wednesday through Friday show less office attendance than a year ago. The data suggests that while more people are returning to offices overall, the preference for remote work remains strong.
Sector by Sector
The report also reveals that all industries in Manhattan are seeing more office attendance. However, some sectors are sending workers back into offices faster than others. Law firms have seen a 25% jump in attendance over the past year, while media and entertainment firms are up by 20.5%.
These industries have become key drivers of the broader return-to-office trend in Manhattan, where more workers are showing up in person at the start of the week.
Notably, the finance and banking sectors initially led the return to office in Manhattan, but the trend has now expanded to other sectors. Industries outside of law and media have seen recent increases in office attendance ranging from 5–11%.
Zooming Out
Despite the return-to-office gains in Manhattan, the national office occupancy rate remains significantly below pre-pandemic levels.
As of June 2024, U.S. office buildings are operating at 62% of their June 2019 capacity. However, Manhattan continues to outperform the national average, with office activity nearly 15% higher and up 7.3% YoY.
However, the long-term balance between remote and in-office work remains uncertain as the commercial market continues to adapt to evolving employee preferences.
