How Will Work Uncertainty Affect Office REITs?
December 21, 2021 | Erik Sherman | GlobeSt.com
First quarter of next year—otherwise known as a couple of weeks from now—was supposed to be when the majority of workers returned to the office. But uncertainty keeps rearing its head, and that could play continued havoc with the values of office REITs.
As of November, the number working at home due to the pandemic was down to 11.3% of the workforce, or 17.5 million people. Previous government figures showed that 13% of wage and salary workers had arrangements to work from home at least part of the time. Depending on the overlap of these groups, that could mean upwards of a quarter of workers do their job from home at least part of the time., And that’s as a percentage of all workers, not just those who typically would be in an office.
The omicron variant of Covid-19 has only increased uncertainty, with some large employers again delaying their plans for a return to the office. Meta (formerly Facebook), for example, is keeping plans to reopen at the end of January, but will let employees delay their own return until as late as June. Lyft, to name another example, is opening its offices by February but not requiring employees to come in next year.
