Downtown office workers slowly return
Survey was taken before spike; plans may change
Downtown Milwaukee office employees are expected to slowly return to their workplaces as businesses continue to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
That’s according to a new survey of firms that operate 27 large downtown office buildings.
That nonscientific survey was conducted in mid- and late June by the Milwaukee Downtown Business Improvement District.
It estimated that just 8% of downtown’s 90,700 employees were working at offices during Gov. Tony Evers’ stayat-home order, which the Wisconsin
Supreme Court overturned on May 13.
The building managers surveyed said they expected employees totaling 18% of the downtown workforce to return to their offices by July 1, said Matt Dorner, the business improvement district’s economic development director.
That survey showed the proportion of employees working at downtown offices rising gradually, to 33% as of Sept. 1, 48% by Nov. 1 and 68% by the end of 2020.
But there has been a spike in coronavirus cases since that survey was conducted, which could affect plans to resume office work, Dorner said at a Thursday district board meeting.
Along with the need for safety, and the ease some have found of working at home, a lack of child care also creates challenges for workers returning to offices, he said.
Office building managers are using social distancing, reduced elevator capacity, more frequent cleaning, increased sanitation stations and other tactics to help reduce the pandemic’s spread, Dorner said.
Employers that are slowly shifting workers back to downtown offices include Rexnord Corp., Badger Mutual Insurance Co., BMO Harris Bank and Husch Blackwell.
At Kahler Slater, around 15% of that architecture firm’s staff has returned to the office, said George Meyer, chief executive officer.
Meyer, a district board member, said the firm will likely have around 60% of its staff back at the office by year’s end.
“People want to get back to the office for collaboration,” Meyer said.”It’s the collaboration that’s suffering in the COVID environment.”