State must adapt to changes in work-life balance
The workplace has changed forever. Connecticut needs to recognize those changes and pivot, adjusting priorities and our focus to better position our state.
In the post-COVID era, the way we look at our residents and specifically our workforce, commutes, work-from-home, and work-life balance has all changed. Connecticut needs to embrace the change, reassess our priorities, rethink how we market ourselves as a place to do business, and leverage our assets more strategically to match the new normal. The case for change is clear.
With many of our residents working remotely for what likely will be 50 percent-plus of the time now and in the future, priorities have shifted for the professional who pre-COVID lived in Connecticut and commuted to a job by car in-state or by train in New York City. The pre-COVID needs of those who live here, which were in part tied to faster trains, better train station parking and less traffic, now have changed. The new focus is on working from home, requiring broader, faster and more robust and reliable internet, as well as the need to retrofit their homes to be more “home-office friendly.” A workfrom-home existence will also match up with the needs and desires of many who during COVID reassessed work-life balance priorities, realizing their priorities have changed.
Commercial real estate in Connecticut is going to continue to struggle to find and maintain tenants at pre-COVID levels, with no easy recovery in site for perhaps years, driven by the desire by most, where possible, to work from home some or all of the time. Those previously commuting to jobs in the city are seemingly locked in to remote work, as is evident by recent studies showing the number of workers returning to NYC offices some 20 months after COVID began is under 30 percent. This trend will push more Connecticut-based landlords to seriously consider conversion of some spaces to residential. Lower demand for commercial space will drive rents down. Any narratives to the contrary are mostly being spun by those who own or represent these vast empty spaces.
Connecticut has proudly touted our highly educated workforce for years, correctly so. We’ve tried to use this as bait for employers, attempting to leverage the quality of life and caliber of population to get firms to relocate here. Previous efforts have understandably focused on talent located within a commutable distance to one’s offices, either via car or mass transportation. Our future efforts need to dispense with the commutable-distance focus, pivoting initially to our state’s talented professionals, marketing them to companies all over the U.S., with less of an initial focus on the concept that location near a company’s offices is paramount.
To execute a successful marketing campaign of this nature, pitching the talents the state has to offer, we need to understand the specific skill sets our residents possess. A broad surveying initiative statewide to learn what skills residents possess, professions they serve, etc., will allow the state to leverage that data for purposes of attracting employers who want to be here, in some cases because that talent is here. This could be initiated by the Department of Economic Development in concert with chambers of commerce and other business associations.
Efforts focused on populating our metro markets with interesting, growing employers must continue. With that said, pre-COVIDbased strategies must be reviewed, rethought and adjusted. The workplace has changed forever. Connecticut needs to recognize those changes and pivot, adjusting priorities and our focus to better position our state to benefit from the new normal. The time to reset the strategy is now.