The Property Council has labelled Melbourne’s return-to-office rate as “shameful”, crying for empty office buildings to be filled:
Damning new figures from the Property Council of Australia, obtained exclusively by the Herald Sun, shows the city’s rebuild has taken a hit, with office occupancy levels in July well less than half of the pre-Covid baseline – at just 38 per cent.
It’s an 11 point drop from the 49 per cent average that was enjoyed in June…
Property Council’s acting Victorian executive director Adina Cirson said the government needed to team up with the business community to find “urgent solutions to ensure winter hibernation doesn’t extend into spring”…
“These numbers should serve as a wake-up call to our policy-makers and business leaders that we can’t take our foot off the pedal when it comes to CBD recovery and that a new round of bold messaging is needed, as soon as health advice allows, to actively promote the CBD and attract workers back to the office again”.
The Productivity Commission’s 5-year Productivity Inquiry, released last week, lauded that working from home (WFH) has ushered a “massive productivity boost” via accelerating the adoption of digital technologies. Therefore, why should policy makers actively fight against these gains merely to support the financial interests of the property lobby?
Surveys repeatedly show that Australian employees want to keep WFH in some capacity. This relates to the time and cost savings from not having to commute into work, as well as the flexibility WFH provides.
The argument that workers need to return to CBD offices in order to support CBD businesses is also myopic.
While these CBD businesses have certainly been disadvantaged by WFH protocols, suburban businesses nearby people’s homes are benefiting as economic activity is redirected there. Therefore, WFH presents a transfer of economic activity, not lost activity.
As usual the Property Council is talking its own book. The welfare of both workers and suburban businesses must be taken into account.
