Return to normal could take long time downtown
Working from home could become standard for many employees
The slow road to reopening means some downtown Regina businesses are looking farther into the future before returning to normal.
Judith Veresuk, executive director of Regina Downtown Business Improvement District (RDBID), said the exodus of workers from downtown when COVID -19 measures started was a shock to the system.
“It was an immediate drop off a cliff, if you will, once the office workers went home,” said Veresuk. On any given day PRE-COVID-19, the RDBID said between 32,000 and 35,000 people would be working downtown. “Obviously that has changed,” Veresuk said. Without that critical mass of people downtown, there has been little business for the shops and restaurants able to stay open. Veresuk said many businesses and workers are looking forward to getting back to their offices.
“We’re still in the middle of this situation and over the next couple of months we’ll begin to see where offices are landing,” she said.
The concern though is that workplaces that have transitioned to a work-from-home model will continue to do so after restrictions are lifted.
Veresuk said already she heard that some workplaces will run with a 50-50 split of workers in offices and working from home.
“There’s always a concern. We’re worried about how our businesses will continue to generate revenue post COVID,” she said. “I think there’s always opportunity.”
Victoria Gabel, senior property manager with Harvard, said many of its retail properties are looking to get back quickly. “Office tenants are not in such a rush,” she said, pegging their return date somewhere in late June or July.
Beginning mid-march, SGI transitioned 92 per cent of its staff into a work-from-home model according to vice-president of human resources Tamara Erhardt.
From the Regina office on 11th Avenue on any given day 800 to 900 employees would working out of that hub.
Sasktel, another Crown Corporation with offices in downtown Regina, said 90 per cent of its staff has been working from home since mid-march.
No plan is in place right now to see those employees leave the home office for their conventional one.
“We are in the process of analyzing and developing our phased in return to work plan, which includes an analysis of some employees continuing to work from home,” said a spokesperson for Sasktel.
Sasktel does not have a specific date in mind for a full return of employees to its offices.
Erhardt said there is no definitive full return to the office for SGI either, but with maintaining physical distancing still required she said the estimate is that 30 per cent of employees could return to an office.
“That’s about the number of people we think will be able to return prior to physical distancing being lifted,” said Erhardt.
According to Erhardt, an in-office poll at SGI showed there is a split of people enjoying the workfrom-home approach and those looking to return to the office. But from a companywide poll conducted by SGI and the University of Regina, employees rate their working from home experience at 8.1 out of 10.
“Certainly there’s some things that could work better or make their experience better, but I think for the most part they’re accepting of it and it may not be their endof-day preference,” said Erhardt.
Productivity has also been up across the board for SGI workers.
John Hopkins, CEO of the Regina & District Chamber of Commerce, said a number of businesses that have shuttered due to the pandemic are hoping for employees to return to their respective offices.
“It’s a double whammy: You aren’t allowed to open and the people you rely on for your business aren’t around either,” said Hopkins.
On the subject of permanently working from home, Erhardt said the Crown does not intend on leaving its office space behind, but is considering permanent workfrom-home options for some employees.