Office Foot Traffic Stumbles in November

Despite an increasing number of employees returning to the office, metrics continue to be roller-coaster rides. Placer.ai’s November 2024 Office Index described the situation as “two steps forward, one step back,” and for good reason.

Specifically:

• Visits to office buildings nationwide were 62.4%, down from 66.7% in November 2023 and 66.0% in October 2024.

• The metric represented the “most substantial drop in office foot traffic since January 2024,” the report said.

While the decline was significant, the report explained that record-breaking travel over Thanksgiving was possibly one reason.

“With remote work making it easier than ever before for professionals to plug in from virtually anywhere, many likely extended their trips without taking extra days off, leading to fewer office visits in the days leading up to the holiday,” the report added.

Ethan Chernofsky, Placer.ai’s Senior Vice President of Marketing, told Connect CRE that the calendar—and weather—can influence office visits. “The overall trend of recovery appears to be continuing, though the role of hybrid work clearly left a significant impact,” he added.

Despite the decrease in national visits, locations like Miami, FL and New York continued their strong recovery, reaching 84% and 81.9% of pre-pandemic levels, respectively. The report surmised that Miami’s strong showing is partly due to strict return-to-office policies.

“The largest factor driving the return to office now is that businesses—and in many cases, employees—believe that face-to-face interactions in the workplace still play a critical role,” Chernofsky observed.

Regarding year-over-year trends, the report noted that office visits in San Francisco had increased by 1.6%. This may partly have been due to RTO mandates and partly because “the city’s temperate climate may also have played a role in encouraging residents to stay local for the holidays,” the report pointed out.

Meanwhile, New York’s YoY visits fell by 8.2%. The report cited extended “workcations by remote-capable finance employees,” public transit disruptions and holiday season congestion as reasons for the fall. However, given New York’s overall strong recovery trajectory, the report indicated there could be higher growth in January 2025 after the holidays.

Overall, Chernofsky said that the question isn’t whether a recovery will occur as much as it involves to what degree specific workers will return. “Distance and the likelihood that an employee has children all play a significant role in determining the likelihood of being in the office more days in a given week,” he added.

So, while in-person work is perceived as beneficial for collaboration and performance, many businesses are willing to entertain a limited hybrid culture. “This speaks to the fact that companies want to provide some of the flexibility that hybrid brings while still ensuring the values of in-person collaboration are maintained,” Chernofsky said.