- 43% of workers returning to the office stayed for less than 6 hours in the first half of 2023, a workplace analytics firm said.
- During the same period, the average office occupancy rate in North America peaked at 35% per week.
- The companies have faced significant setbacks in terms of their return to power mandates.
About 43% of North American workers who returned to the office worked less than six hours a day in the first half of 2023, according to a report by workplace occupancy analytics firm Basking released Aug. 3. .
The remaining 57%, or 3 out of 5 office workers whose data was analyzed, were there for more than six hours a day. This compares to almost 60% in the Asia-Pacific region and 58% in Europe in the first half. A typical working day runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
That’s a steep drop from before the pandemic, when about 84% of office visits lasted six hours or more, according to The Washington Post.
Basking used WiFi usage to measure office occupancy and visits. It is not immediately clear how the company obtained this data.
Those who clocked in for the shortest stays – accounting for about 1 in 5 North American office workers – did so for less than 3 hours a day.
And this is only for the office workers who came.
Average office occupancy rates in North America peaked at 35% per week in the first half, according to data from Basking.
The start and end of the workweek were the least popular with office workers, with North American offices seeing 17% occupancy on Monday. The occupancy rate fell to around 12% on Friday.
Employers are increasingly demanding that workers return to the office, under pressure from bosses at companies like Amazon, Apple, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan over RTOs.
JP Morgan has taken to tracking ID card readings to ensure hybrid workers come in at least three days a week. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs required workers to be in the office five days a week in August.
However, employees object to their RTO mandates.
Even in April, more than two-thirds of 700 US financial services executives surveyed by Deloitte said they would quit if their workplace required five days a week in the office.
Basking did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, sent outside of normal business hours.
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