The number of workers back in the office has finally topped 50% nationwide.
But the share of Dallas-area office employees back at their desks is much higher – as it’s been during most of the pandemic.
During the last week of January nationwide office occupancy rose to 50.4%, according to reports from Kastle Systems Inc.
In Dallas, office worker occupancies topped 54% in one week in January and were almost 60% on the days of the week with the most in-office work.
In Austin, almost 68% of office employees were back at their desks. And Houston was seeing a 60.3% attendance rate, according to Kastle Systems which monitors building mechanical systems to gauge employee population rates.
In April 2020 during the pandemic shutdowns, Dallas-area office occupancy fell to less than 12%. Worker occupancy levels have been slow to rise during the following years as employers have struggled to get their people back in the office.
North Texas real estate brokers say that the share of office workers back in their buildings is much higher than the estimates – at least on some days of the week.
“Yes, I believe that a higher percentage of workers in D-FW are back in the office than the stats are showing,” said Cushman & Wakefield vice chairman Robbie Baty. “Because Dallas has been a ‘back in the office’ culture since early in the pandemic, and most of the office tenants have local leadership, the majority of workers have returned to work.”
Building managers say most of their office tenants are bringing workers back for three or more a week.
“At The Crescent we believe all firms are back,” said John Zogg, managing director with Crescent Real Estate. “Some do still do some flex time but almost all are here full time.
“Our restaurants are all doing better than pre pandemic.”
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, downtown Dallas – like most of the country’s business districts – was a ghost town.
But the number of office workers and business at restaurants and retail has bounced back, said Jennifer Scripps, CEO of the economic development group Downtown Dallas Inc.
“Since last summer I’ve seen the uptick,” Scripps said. “Most people are doing three to four days in the office.
“That gets you to between 60% and 80%,” she said. “Mondays are still markedly quieter and Fridays feel a little bit quieter.”
The return of office workers has added to downtown activity and supports restaurants that depend on employees at nearby businesses.
Getting workers back in the buildings is also a big goal of office landlords who’ve seen a sharp decline in leasing activity since 2020.
The work-from-home trend has also prompted companies to dump millions of square feet of unneeded offices on the sublease market.
