More than $12 billion is lost annually in New York City as a result of the remote work trend.
According to a Bloomberg analysis of WFH research released on February 12th, office workers are spending $4,661 less per person in the neighborhoods around their offices than they were prior to the pandemic.
With a $12.4 billion annual deficit, the Big Apple has experienced the biggest drop in spending nationwide.
“Less spending by workers in the central areas means a lot less sales tax revenue,” Jose Maria Barrero, a professor at Mexico’s Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo and a member of the WFH Research group, told Bloomberg. “If you have fewer commuters, that means less revenue.”
The amount was determined by multiplying the annual inflation-adjusted loss in spending per worker by the almost 2.7 million commuters and residents who worked in Manhattan in 2019 according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
According to WFH Research, the team used current working-from-home rates from the Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes waves conducted from June to November 2022 and calculated the typical number of post-COVID work-from-home days to arrive at the report’s results. It also evaluated the annual loss in spending as well as the decrease of person days on company premises due to work-from-home rates.
“If less income tax is being paid in New York City,” Comptroller Brad Lander told Bloomberg, “then it’s hard to figure out how to capture enough value to maintain the subways and invest in the schools and keep the city safe and clean and all the things that really matter.”
Significantly, a recent survey by the Partnership for New York City found that only 52% of office workers in Manhattan are present at work on a typical workday, and only 9% of workers are present five days a week.