Chicago & Midwest + Downtown + Office | August 9, 2022

DePaul/ULI Chicago Report: Employee Attendance Issue is Complicated

A robust workforce return to the office will have enduring benefits to the office ecosystem, including restaurants, shops and entertainment venues, and long-term benefits to employees, especially those in the early stages of their careers who gain considerably from mentoring and “spill-over knowledge,” according to a Chicago 2022 Mid-Year Sentiment Report.

Despite those benefits, the report by The Real Estate Center at DePaul University and The Urban Land Institute Chicago District Council found that a wide-scale return to the office is a complicated topic given COVID’s resilience and businesses trying to maintain their competitive edge.

According to the DePaul-ULI report, requirements for employee attendance in a post-COVID work environment vary. Thirty-six percent of respondents cited flexibility in the requirement, 32.5% expected to be in the office half of the time and 21.9% said full-time attendance is expected.

However, enforcement is an issue and/or inconsistent. “Employees are expected to be in the office three days a week, but at this stage it really isn’t being enforced,” said one participant.

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DePaul Real Estate CenterULI Chicago

About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 13-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 15-20 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

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