Snapshots

Midweek occupancy sees significant post-Labor Day growth

September 25, 2023

Contributors:

The first full workweek following Labor Day saw a 3.3% increase in office attendance as the Kastle index increased to 50.3%, just 10 basis points off post-pandemic highs, but the prominence of hybrid schedules has driven a sharper increase in midweek occupancy, with Wednesday occupancy reaching 59.5%, a nearly 7% jump from the corresponding week in 2022.

Return-to-office directives went into effect for over one million U.S. employees in September, the most significant volume in any month this year, but over 400,000 employees remain subject to pending mandates that will take effect through January 2024, providing an additional pipeline for increased office attendance.

Even in the wake of Labor Day, new attendance mandates continue to be issued: in recent weeks, Sidley Austin announced a four-day attendance requirement for its staff, and ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, launched a new application for tracking employee attendance to encourage greater compliance with its existing policies.

In each of the last three years, the week following Labor Day represented an important milestone, but not peak attendance rates for the year. If previous trends repeat, average attendance may approach or exceed 55%, and midweek attendance may reach 65% by year-end.

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