- South Florida has the highest office return rate in the U.S., with 90% of employees back at work, 20% ahead of the national average.
- Hybrid work is the norm, with Monday through Wednesday exceeding pre-pandemic in-office levels, while Thursday and Friday remain below.
- Downtown Fort Lauderdale’s workforce has grown 38% since 2020, and remote work remains trendy, especially among tech workers.
- Miami is ranked among the top five most affordable cities for coworking spaces, offering cost savings of 61% compared to traditional office leasing.
South Florida has emerged as the national leader in return-to-office rates, with 9 out of 10 employees now back in their workplaces, according to the Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority (FTL DDA) and data from Placer.ai.
As reported in Globest, this return rate is 20% ahead of the national average, reflecting South Florida’s strong economic and employment growth.
Hybrid Work: The New Normal
Though in-office attendance has rebounded, full-time in-office work may never fully return, even in South Florida.
The FTL DDA’s data shows that while attendance on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays exceeds pre-pandemic levels, Thursday and Friday attendance lags behind by 20%.
This shift suggests that hybrid work is becoming the norm, allowing flexibility for employees while maintaining high productivity.
In Downtown Fort Lauderdale, up to 15% of residents are working from home, particularly in the tech sector. “Largely, these employees are part of the growing base of technology workers living in our region and working for companies based all over the world,” the FTL DDA noted.
Job And Population Growth
According to the FTL DDA, Downtown Fort Lauderdale’s population has grown by 38% since 2020, and 7K new jobs have been added to the city’s urban core.
The region’s promising growth, combined with its ability to adapt to hybrid work, has protected South Florida from the negative impacts seen in many other office markets where foot traffic remains low.
Affordable Coworking
South Florida is also making waves in the coworking sector. Despite the overall perception of post-pandemic Miami as a pricey place, the city was just recently ranked as one of the top five most affordable cities for coworking spaces, according to CoworkingCafe.
In fact, renting a coworking space in Miami costs up to 61% less than leasing a traditional office. Other cities in Florida, including Coral Gables, Tampa, Plantation, Hollywood, and Fort Lauderdale, also ranked highly for coworking affordability.
National Trends
Outside of South Florida, New York City has also seen a notable (but unsurprising, given that it’s NYC) recovery in office attendance. Roughly 80% of employees are back in their offices, up from a stagnant 60% in prior years.
Simply put, while remote work remains a part of the overall U.S. employment landscape, the demand for in-person office space is steadily rising across the country, and now hybrid work is seen as the new normal.
