SALT LAKE CITY — Eighteen months into the pandemic, COVID-19 continues to change where Utahns work.
"We’ve all learned new tricks for working and we know that we can work from home,” Downtown Alliance executive director Dee Brewer said.
The latest numbers show that only 33 percent of downtown office workers are actually in their offices, according to the Downtown Alliance, a booster group affiliated with the Salt Lake Chamber.
READ: The future of open streets in downtown SLC
That number is up from 22 percent — the lowest drop during the early months of the pandemic, according to Brewer. He’s optimistic the trend will continue to rise this fall.
"Now that kids are back in school, we are going to see those numbers go up because we have some large employers like the LDS Church and Goldman Sachs and some other major ones who are ramping up,” Brewer said.
The low office occupancy can negatively impact downtown businesses reliant on workers, including restaurants and retail.
