The Rise of the One-Day-per-Week Commute

The number of people coming into the office once a week has soared in recent months, as employers from Apple Inc. to Peloton set deadlines for office workers’ return.

A full 50 percent of office appearances globally were just once a week in the second quarter, up from 44 percent in the first quarter, according to data from Basking.io, a workplace-occupancy analytics company. At the same time, the second quarter saw fewer people making the commute four to five days a week, especially in large cities.

Recession fears have many wondering whether a return-to-office crackdown might be around the corner. Major companies like Tesla Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are at the forefront of this effort. Even bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell has said people need to be in the office to have a “sense of belonging.” Yet, many employees feel comfortable ignoring mandates in the tight labor market, as the demand for workers far outpaces the supply.

“Even with most firms implementing a ‘three days in the office’ hybrid policy, most employees prefer visiting the office just once a week,” Eldar Gizzatov, Basking.io’s CEO, wrote in the report. “The pandemic has accustomed people to work remotely, and there is not a concrete reason in most professions to return to the offices.”

While the number of days workers were in the office fell, the the duration of each visit rose, according to ​​Basking.io, which analyzed Wi-Fi data from 100 offices of seven organizations around the world to measure changes in office space utilization.

Work-from-home habits are settling into industry-specific patterns. About 55 percent of workers are in-person full-time, mostly those in frontline jobs like retail, food service, and manufacturing, according to separate research from Stanford economics professor Nicholas Bloom. Roughly 30 percent have hybrid arrangements, typically managers and professionals, while 15 percent of workers are fully remote, largely in support roles like payroll and IT.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.