Just 15 Percent Of Manhattan Office Workers Will Return This Year

NEW YORK CITY — Manhattan’s offices are 90 percent emptier than they were a year ago, according to a newly-released survey.

Just 10 percent of Manhattan office employees have returned to their workplaces, the survey released this week from the Partnership For New York City reported.

The number likely won’t increase soon either.

“Only 15% of Manhattan office employees are expected to return by the end of this year, down from August estimates of 26%,” the survey stated.

The Partnership For NYC previously released similar surveys of major employers in June and August, a release states. The most recent results show many expectations have lowered over the course of the pandemic.

The total share of employees expected to return to office by July decreased from 54 percent to 48 percent, according to the survey. And about 39 percent of those likely will work remotely at least half the time.

If you work in real estate, odds are you’re back to the office — 73 percent are already back, with 87 percent expected to return by next July, according to the survey.

On the flip side, tech employers reduced their expectations of how many workers will return by one-third, the survey reported. Only 9 percent of employees expected to return by July 2021, down from 74 percent that were estimated as of August.

And, in total and unsurprisingly, 87 percent of employers reported that COVID-19 is the biggest factor influencing workers’ return to the office.