An enormous amount of the workforce has not returned to their offices. It is especially bad in Manhattan where only 10 percent of office workers have come back.
Only 10 percent of Manhattan’s 2 millon office workers have returned to their offices – half of what experts were hoping for – and their absence is forcing small businesses that rely on their trade to close permanently.
Unlike in other major cities like L.A. and Dallas, many New York City residents fled permanently in the spring and summer when the city saw its COVID-19 peak. The reasons for fleeing varied between high rent prices and rising crime.
With no reason to come into the office anymore, many did not see the point in paying a premium when the city around them was dying.
These office workers aren’t coming back. How are you going to convince people to come back when half the population is scared of dying from the coronavirus?
The overall economic impact of these empty offices is difficult to articulate. All the businesses that relied upon the presence of workers in the offices are all going to collapse. The entire house of cards is crumbling around us.
