As employees return to the office, city transit squeezed

New data shows the number of hours people are working from home is dropping, but the pandemic practice is still having some long lasting impacts.

Statistics Canada says across the country, the percentage of employees working most of their week from home was around 40 per cent in April 2020. The number fell to 30 per cent in January 2022, and as of November 2023, it hit 20 per cent.

Staffmax CEO Jason Gill says there are fewer remote work offers compared to the middle of the pandemic.

“We’ve seen definitely a shift in candidates’ expectations that there isn’t as much remote work out there, but they’re still wanting it.”

Still, the home office may be here to stay for some.

The report also shows as people returned to the office, not all of them came back for the full week, as hybrid models started gaining ground in 2022.

Meantime, some businesses are downsizing their office spaces. Downtown Winnipeg’s office vacancy rate remains high at more than 18 per cent.

Winnipeg’s public works chair Janice Lukes says it’s an issue here and across North America.

“We’re going to see a long-term effect from this because it’s more difficult to sell these larger buildings,” she said, adding it’s going to impact taxes and assessment values down the road.

Statistics Canada also says since 2020, the work from home model created a reduced demand for transit.

In Canada, ridership fell from 12.6 per cent in 2016 to 10.1 per cent last year. This forced cities like Winnipeg to reduce service and take on financial losses.

But Lukes says bus ridership is coming back strong in Winnipeg. The service remains an issue, but not because of flexible work weeks.

“We have routes that we can’t fill all the time. We have no shows, we have a driver shortage.”

Lukes says the city is actively recruiting.

The report also says the pandemic years may have helped the environment. It’s estimated driver commutes could be down by 2.6 million over the last seven years.

Sharee Hochmam from the Green Action Centre says it is one way to help curb emissions.

“We definitely reduce greenhouse gas emissions by having a work from home option or that option becoming more available,” said Hochman