Workers around the world throughout Europe and Asia are going back to the office while U.S. employees are still working from home.
Even as people got vaccinated and Covid restrictions eased over the years, U.S. office occupancy remains stagnant around 40% to 60% of pre-pandemic levels, varying by month and by city, according to data from the commercial real estate firm JLL and reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Meanwhile, office attendance has returned to 70% to 90% in Europe and the Middle East, and around 80% to 110% in some Asian cities, meaning some workers are spending more time in the office now than pre-Covid.
In particular, several global cities steadily reached at least 75% office occupancy throughout 2021 and 2022, according to JLL data, including Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, Paris and Stockholm.
Average office attendance in 10 major U.S. metros only recently reached 50% for the first time since the pandemic hit, based on data from Kastle Systems. (Attendance varies widely by city, from 66% in Austin to 41% in San Jose, Calif. for the week ending Feb. 22.)
Here are three big reasons why American workers aren’t returning to the office while their global counterparts are:
More space and bigger homes
Americans are more likely than people throughout Europe and Asia to live in the suburbs and have bigger homes, making it more appealing to work remotely from home.
On the flip side, working from home is less ideal, and less common, in major cities where micro-apartments and intergenerational households are the norm, like in Hong Kong, for example.
Living in the suburbs means living farther away from city centers, which makes commuting more burdensome.
Lacking public transit
Americans who live in major U.S. cities still have their own commuting issues, though.
Even in big cities with public transit, like New York and San Francisco, people live farther away from city centers to save money but trade lower rent for longer commutes.
New York workers have the longest average…
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