Office vacancies continue to grow
Despite occasional slightly desperate perky announcements that everyone is back to the downtown office grind, office vacancies continue to rise.
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Faiz imam 16:05 on 2022-06-03 Permalink
It’s not trivial, but I’m very interested to see lower value offices attempt conversion to apartments.
It’s happening slowly but expect the trend to increase over time.
Robert H 18:10 on 2022-06-03 Permalink
Il est clair qu’il y a maintenant une nouvelle réalité, non seulement pour Montréal mais pour toutes les grandes villes. C’est une mauvaise nouvelle à court terme. Mais, si quelqu’un l’a remarqué, il y a toujours une frénésie de construction au centre-ville avec des tours qui s’élèvent partout.
Notez également que toutes ces tours sont résidentielles (La seule exception, La Place Banque Nationale qui se construit à 800 Rue Saint Jacques), un symbole de la transformation du centre-ville, qui est passé d’un lieu où l’on va travailler, puis repartir chez soi, à un lieu de résidence avec une vraie vie de quartier. C’est finalement bon pour la ville.
Robert H 18:16 on 2022-06-03 Permalink
À l’ère du télétravail, ces employés de bureau ne reviendront pas tous, quoi qu’en veuille Elon Musk ou tout autre magnat.
Moses 20:29 on 2022-06-03 Permalink
“attempt conversion to apartments.” You mean conversion to AirBnBs and other unlicensed apartment-hotels, yes?
dhomas 20:36 on 2022-06-03 Permalink
I know some people who work downtown. It’s not just that people aren’t going back to the office, but offices have changed. In the past, workers would have assigned desks that were “theirs” whether they were there or not. Since the pandemic, they now have “jump seats”, where desks are shared between multiple employees. So you can have many more employees in the same amount of space.
steph 09:29 on 2022-06-04 Permalink
My office 10 year lease will be up in 2029. Maybe after that we’ll get jump seats.
steph 09:39 on 2022-06-04 Permalink
I recently had a co-worker tell me that coming to the office is essential to his mental health. Working from home 100% drove him nuts. I understood what he was saying but It was the wrong place to ask; is this the employers or fellow employees responsibility to manage his mental health? Mental health is a tricky thing so but I held back suggesting he could join a sports team or find a hobby group.
“Le télétravail a fait ses preuves, mais il ne faut pas négliger l’aspect essentiel des interactions sociales”, La ministre responsable de l’Administration gouvernementale du Québec et présidente du Conseil du trésor, Sonia LeBel
So I’ll do my work when I’m at home, and at the office I’ll hang around the coffee machine. OK ms minister.
Kevin 12:13 on 2022-06-04 Permalink
Socializing at work is what people do when they don’t want to work. It’s a tactic by extroverts to interrupt those who are actually accomplishing things, and it is only accepted because the extroverts, by their very nature, drown out the voices of introverts.
Kate 13:25 on 2022-06-04 Permalink
I’m applauding you loudly here, Kevin. Yes.
Bert 13:52 on 2022-06-04 Permalink
Word up Kevin!
Daisy 16:00 on 2022-06-04 Permalink
Preferring going to work rather than working from home is not just about wanting to socialize (and to more easily collaborate with colleagues, with I find much easier to do in person). For me it is also about having clear separation between my work and my private life, which I find beneficial for my mental health. Not to mention that working from home meant in my case back pain from working on a laptop on my kitchen table on an unergonomic chair because I simply don’t have the room for a proper setup, not having purchased this condo with the thought that I would need to work from home. I am very happy to no longer be working from home and I am also happy that my employer now allows me to occasionally work from home on days when a plumber is coming or I have a mid-day dentist appointment or something. (We are allowed to work from home up to one day a week if/when the department’s service needs permit it.) And for the record I am also an introvert.
Kate 09:53 on 2022-06-05 Permalink
This thread seems proof that people differ on the subject!