Vol. XXII, No. 1, January 2022
Latest on work-from-home
Research by Nicholas Bloom, professor of economics at Stanford University, finds that working from home is here to stay, with hybrid arrangements fast becoming the dominant strain. By 2022, a large segment of companies will have everyone in the office three days a week, typically Tuesday to Thursday, and working from home Monday and Friday.
We're looking at a future with a three-tier workforce. Around 50% of all employees will work full time in-person. These are the frontline workers in retail, manufacturing, construction, healthcare, and services.
A second group, about 40%, will work hybrid, typically three days in the office and two days at home. Hybrid workers are usually college-educated, professions, and executives.
Finally, the remaining 10% of employees will remain fully remote. Mostly these are folks in skilled service roles like IT support, finance, payroll, or editing.
Hybrid and fully remote workers do not have to live in city centers. Hybrid workers need to live in the suburbs for their commutes three days a week. Bloom reports that 15% of residents have left the centers of major U.S. cities to live in the suburbs.
The shift in where many workers live has implications for location-based leisure venues (LBLs), as they should be close to their best customers, typically white collar customers. Many suburban locations will be growing with the relocation of college-educated workers from the central cities, making them ideal locations for LBLs.
