Vol. XXIII, No. 8, August 2023
Update on remote workers
Our March 2023 issue included an article about how the number of people working from home (teleworkers) has increased. As a result, the number of visits to out-of-home leisure and entertainment destinations has shifted from Saturdays to weekday afternoons. July 2023 data from the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that the percentage of hybrid and fully work-from-home workers has had a slight uptick. Here's the latest data on teleworkers.
Informational, finance, professional, and business services have the largest share of hybrid and remote workers.
College graduates have the highest percentage of 57% either entirely WFH or hybrid workers.
Workers in their 50s and 60s are fully remote more often than younger workers
Working from home is more common in major cities than smaller cities and towns. This is consistent with the data on poor office occupancies in the larger cities.
Implications
Location-based entertainment venues (LBEs) located in the heart of major cities are probably experiencing decreased attendance due to reduced worker traffic. The economic impact is probably severe since college graduates have the highest percentage of remote work and account for the majority of spending at LBEs. For LBEs in smaller cities and towns, overall attendance is likely not impacted by the increased remote work from before the pandemic. However, those areas should be seeing some Saturday attendance shifting to weekday afternoons.
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