New data from the real estate market shows the vacancy rates’ changed – they continue to go up across major markets. Digging into it, Barclays analysts noted last week that the share of office mortgages that have been assigned to either “watchlists” of loans showing signs of being in trouble or “special servicing,” where loans with missed payments are sent, has hit more than 21%. That’s the highest since the financial crisis.
GeekWire, which covers much Seattle-based news, dug into the changes in population in King County, Washington, which contains Seattle and Bellevue. It’s down to 20,000 people between July 2020 and July 2021.
The Next Web did their analysis in the UK – yes, resignations did rise sharply from the end of 2020 and into 2021. Why? Similar to data reported yesterday… for new jobs. And better-paying ones.
Couple that with new data in a change not just where we work but also when. Axios reports on research showing roughly half of people are night owls, dictated by genetics, not choice. The coverage cites examples of leaders and creatives whose “peak times” are later.
Why do we care?
So, which matters more…. Executives proclaiming the return to the office, or occupancy data and office mortgages being deemed problematic? I’ll go with the mortgage data. This is also a slow-moving insight, as leases are long-term commitments.
Today’s takeaway – there is opportunity in flexibility. Future-forward organizations find ways to be flexible to employees’ wants to meet the market where it is.