‘A REVOLUTION IN HOW WE THINK ABOUT WORK’
Pandemic makes lasting impact on state’s office workers
On March 6, 2020, Connecticut recorded its first COVID-19 case. Within a couple of weeks, offices across the state emptied out as the virus spread furiously.
Those workplaces have not been the same since then.
Today, offices across the state are open again as the pandemic has abated — and numerous companies are signing new leases. But the paradigm of the past two years is unlikely to go away for white collar workers, with many employers still allowing remote work and offering more flexible schedules than they did before the pandemic.
“COVID-19 created a revolution in how we think about work, where work is performed and work-life balance,” David Lewis, founder and CEO of Norwalk-based human resources services firm Operations Inc., said in an interview. “Now it’s just a question of what percentage of your employee population is never going to come to the office and what percentage is going to come some of the time or all of the time. That reset is in full gear right now.”
Rise of remote working
While the transition to all-out remote working was sudden in March 2020, many businesses navigated the change with relatively little disruption to their operations. During the pandemic’s first wave — and since then — videoconferencing services and other technology have played a crucial role in keeping employees connected.
In the past two years, many professionals have discovered how much they like being able to work from home — particularly being able to spend more time with their families and cut out the time and hassle of commuting.
“Working from home is not going away,” said Fran Pastore, CEO of the Women’s Business Development Council. “Working from home is giving mostly
women the flexibility they need to take care of themselves and their families.”
For white collar workers, the growing acceptance of remote working has also expanded their living options. The state’s residential real estate market has surged since the start of the pandemic, with many buying homes in suburban or rural communities without having to fret about long commutes every day to offices in cities.
“Someone can live in Newtown and work for a company in Stamford and not have that be an awful existence, if all they have to do is come to that office three times a month,” Lewis said. “Or even better, you can live anywhere in this state and work at any company in the United States if you are comfortable working from home. And now suddenly the world is your oyster.”
Today, corporate offices are open across the state. Even during
the omicron-fueled surge in COVID-19 cases in early winter, many firms were reluctant to again shut down their offices as they did during the first wave of the pandemic. In contrast to early 2020, COVID-19 vaccines are available, and Connecticut has one of the highest vaccination rates among the states.
But even with their offices open again, many companies are still letting employees work remotely at least some of the time.
“What we’re trying to talk to our folks about is having the flexibility of where they work,” said Jonathan Lipschutz, Stamford office managing partner for professional-services firm EY. “We set expectations with our teams to say, ‘It’s great to collaborate and work together,’ because we feel that’s the best way we can serve our clients, whether it’s at the client site or in the office.”
Major deals
Despite the prevalence of remote working, companies still have significant need for office space.
For all of 2021, Fairfield County recorded about 1.7 million square feet of new office leases, up 23 percent from 2020, according to commercial real estate firm CBRE. It trailed by 13 percent, however, the county’s five-year annual average of about 1.9 million square feet.
Nine of the 10 largest leasing deals last year in Fairfield County were signed for properties in Stamford or Greenwich. At No. 1, tobacco giant Philip Morris International signed a lease for more than 71,000 square feet at 677 Washington Blvd., in downtown Stamford. It plans to open the new headquarters this summer.
Digital Currency Group, which focuses on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, accounted last year for the county’s secondand third-largest transactions. It signed new-lease and expansion deals for its under-construction headquarters covering about 90,000 square feet in the Shippan Landing complex in Stamford.
“Looking at the incredible momentum we have, we want to
continue to work to attract businesses and high-paying jobs for residents in our city and work to reduce the 30 percent commercial vacancy rate that we have,” Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons said in a forum in January.
Fairfield County’s office-availability rate has not fluctuated drastically during the pandemic — a sign of companies’ preference for longer-term leases. In the fourth quarter of 2021, the availability rate totaled 25.9 percent, compared with 26.5 percent in the same period in 2020 and 23.6 percent at the end of 2019.
Among submarkets in southwestern Connecticut, the fourthquarter availability rate ran the lowest in the Greenwich central business district, at only 7.4 percent. The town remains a major hub for financial services with newcomers including iCapital Network and Apollo Global Management. The latter is not only opening offices at 100 W. Putnam Ave., but also buying the downtown building for approximately $200 million.
“We have a goal in government of continuing to make Greenwich a destination,” said Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo. “That includes making it attractive for businesses and for people to move here and work here.”
In addition, a number of Connecticut’s corporate stalwarts have expanded their office presence. Charter Communications, the provider of Spectrum-branded services, last year opened a new headquarters comprising purpose-built 14-story and ninestory buildings at 400 Washington Blvd., next to the Metro-North Railroad station in downtown Stamford. A block away, WWE plans to open later this year its new headquarters at 677 Washington, after relocating from its longtime home at 1241 E. Main St.
“We were here in a space that we thought was good, but not necessarily great,” said Paul Marchand, Charter’s chief human resources officer. “We think this is a great space. It’s been a big plus in attracting and retaining talent.”