The latest survey of CBD office occupancy by the Property Council of Australia shows that workers are steadily returning to city offices, although uptake is slower than ideal.
All CBD markets, except Melbourne, saw increases in office occupancy during October. Canberra had the biggest increase over the month, leaping from 46 per cent to 63 per cent.
Perth and Brisbane also recorded large increases compared to the previous month.
Sydney lags far behind other city centres, with only 40 per cent occupancy.
“The shift is on and more CBD workers are coming back to their offices, which is an important step in Australia’s economic recovery,” Property Council Chief Executive Ken Morrison said.
“Leadership from the Prime Minister and some state governments in encouraging their public servants to return to their offices has clearly played an important role, along with more businesses rebooting their CBD workplaces.
“This is encouraging news for the Australian economy given the critical role of CBD-based businesses in supporting jobs and economic activity, including for all of those businesses which depend on CBD workforces for their viability.”
Mr Morrison notes that the successful suppression of community transmission of COVID-19 means more Australians can confidently return to COVID-safe offices in their CBD.
“There is clearly scope for more people to return in every city, and it will be vital for the Victorian Government to allow workers to return to the Melbourne CBD as an early element of its easing of restrictions,” Mr Morrison said.”
