[Gus Haynes]

I don't get it, why aren't they all back to work in the office like everyone else? Staying at home and working in your pyjamas should not be a thing anymore.

This absolutely depends on the operational needs of your job. If you are crushing your targets and being productive, by all means wear your pyjamas and work from home.

If you need to be in the office to be efficient and productive, then you need to be in the office.

This is pretty simple stuff.

 

[CplKlinger]

I don't get it, why aren't they all back to work in the office like everyone else? Staying at home and working in your pyjamas should not be a thing anymore.

A lot of people are more productive at home, because there's not random people dropping by their desk to talk to them, they can work while virtually attending pointless meetings, etc. Besides, hybrid work saves taxpayers money because people who work hybrid don't need assigned desks, meaning less floor space needed overall. It adds up to millions in savings. I'd rather our governments not spend millions extra in leasing and utility costs just for the sake of "keeping people out of PJs" or whatever. All I care is that they're getting their work done on their WFH days.

 

[MacLac]

The city's official start date for Street Sweeping has always been April 01st. But we know that they start that way earlier depending on the road conditions. I personally haven't seen them earlier, but some posters on here say that DT, Whyte ave etc are started around now.

I am gonna regret asking but has anyone seen a sweeper working anywhere in the city?

 

[IanO]

I am gonna regret asking but has anyone seen a sweeper working anywhere in the city?

Not yet, no and it always perplexes me that we can clear the city of 20cm of snow in 72hrs, but it takes 2months to clean it up from winter.

We also must work to get private businesses, building owners and the like to get out and sweep sidewalks into the curb ASAP; even that would do WONDERS to the look and feel.

 

[MacLac]

I think anyone of us would do a bang up job running the "sweeping" department. I know I'd have a full force out working 24/7 the second the weather allowed for it. You know what my wife says - when I'm retired - if the city allowed it - I'd actually run a sweeper for free!!!!

 

[johnnyboy]

I know I'd have a full force out working 24/7 the second the weather allowed for it.

That's got me wondering... do they run the sweepers 24/7 like the plows, or are they back to regular business hours for that task? (I hope it's 24/7, at least for non-residential streets.)

 

[kcantor]

A lot of people are more productive at home, because there's not random people dropping by their desk to talk to them, they can work while virtually attending pointless meetings, etc. Besides, hybrid work saves taxpayers money because people who work hybrid don't need assigned desks, meaning less floor space needed overall. It adds up to millions in savings. I'd rather our governments not spend millions extra in leasing and utility costs just for the sake of "keeping people out of PJs" or whatever. All I care is that they're getting their work done on their WFH days.

Office rents are a pretty small part of overall employment costs for an employer. Total costs are often ball-parked at 1.25 to 1.5 times the employee’s salary.

That spread includes not just rent but office supplies including hardware, software and licenses, insurance including workers comp,, benefit packages including medical and pension benefits, statutory payments for employment insurance etc., recruitment and retraining costs, travel, administration etc.

At 150 sf per employee and gross occupancy costs of $25 psf, the cost of offices Diane per employee is $3,750 per annum. At an average salary of $87,500 per annum, rent represents 4.3% of the above noted 25-40%.

 

[TAS]

A lot of people are more productive at home, because there's not random people dropping by their desk to talk to them, they can work while virtually attending pointless meetings, etc. Besides, hybrid work saves taxpayers money because people who work hybrid don't need assigned desks, meaning less floor space needed overall. It adds up to millions in savings. I'd rather our governments not spend millions extra in leasing and utility costs just for the sake of "keeping people out of PJs" or whatever. All I care is that they're getting their work done on their WFH days.

I work for a company of 1,400 with 90% working almost exclusively from home. We have a dt office and some of the space has been leased to another company.

Our employee engagement scores are very high and we had our best performance metrics in almost every category in 2024. Our work style ain't changing any time soon. I live close and choose to go in a couple times a week.

But with Edmonton's sprawl and numerous bedroom communities where many of our employees live, they gain so much personal time and save money by not having to commute in.

One of the leaders from my team lives in Ft Sask. She used to drive to Clareview LRT and then come dt. In both directions, that's a lot of time. Now when she does come in, she just drives.

 

[Kosy123]

WFH and how convenient it is for a lot of people really did change the game for downtowns everywhere.

It's why I firmly believe that focusing more on the post-secondary/student population is the future for downtown, along with residents, especially if you want heavy visible foot traffic and higher transit usage. Might even contribute to retail coming to the core that's more focused on serving that demographic too.

 

[IanO]

I work for a company of 1,400 with 90% working almost exclusively from home. We have a dt office and some of the space has been leased to another company.

Our employee engagement scores are very high and we had our best performance metrics in almost every category in 2024. Our work style ain't changing any time soon. I live close and choose to go in a couple times a week.

But with Edmonton's sprawl and numerous bedroom communities where many of our employees live, they gain so much personal time and save money by not having to commute in.

One of the leaders from my team lives in Ft Sask. She used to drive to Clareview LRT and then come dt. In both directions, that's a lot of time. Now when she does come in, she just drives.

Telus I assume.

 

[CplKlinger]

Office rents are a pretty small part of overall employment costs for an employer. Total costs are often ball-parked at 1.25 to 1.5 times the employee’s salary.

That spread includes not just rent but office supplies including hardware, software and licenses, insurance including workers comp,, benefit packages including medical and pension benefits, statutory payments for employment insurance etc., recruitment and retraining costs, travel, administration etc.

At 150 sf per employee and gross occupancy costs of $25 psf, the cost of offices Diane per employee is $3,750 per annum. At an average salary of $87,500 per annum, rent represents 4.3% of the above noted 25-40%.

I can't go into details, but as one example, the GOA is about to move an entire ministry into one of its owned buildings, which will save more than $3 million in lease costs annually. And even where they still lease buildings, decreasing workspace sizes is estimated to save around $600 to $2,800 per workspace (depending on size of workspace, i.e., cubical vs office) in annual lease costs. Plus there's the one-time costs for tenant improvements, furniture, etc. that can be reduced if the GOA leases less space. I can't speak for the City of Edmonton or the feds, but I imagine they're not dissimilar.

 

[kcantor]

The actual cost of office space per employee you’re quoting is pretty consistent -albeit actually less - with those I put forward. Consolidating from leased to owned space is more likely a reduction in work force or a restructuring of the ministry than a WFH response. It should also be noted that there may be a $3m savings on a global basis resulting from this, the cost per annum per employee of owned vs leased office space is probably pretty similar.

 

[CplKlinger]

The actual cost of office space per employee you’re quoting is pretty consistent -albeit actually less - with those I put forward. Consolidating from leased to owned space is more likely a reduction in work force or a restructuring of the ministry than a WFH response. It should also be noted that there may be a $3m savings on a global basis resulting from this, the cost per annum per employee of owned vs leased office space is probably pretty similar.

It's not from reducing/restructuring their workforce. In fact, they grew by around 30 employees last year. My ministry already has a similar footprint to what they will have (we moved to our newly renovated space last year), and if WFH ended today we literally would not have enough workspaces for everybody. They'd have to renovate some of the common areas to convert them to cubicals, and potentially spill onto another floor. As for the $3 million in savings, it is cited as the cost of the lease that they will be able to drop. So, while leases themselves aren't a huge cost, by designing office spaces around WFH they are able to fit ministries into spaces that they otherwise wouldn't fit into, and vacate entire buildings that they previously leased.

 

[degrandprix]

WFH and how convenient it is for a lot of people really did change the game for downtowns everywhere.

It's why I firmly believe that focusing more on the post-secondary/student population is the future for downtown, along with residents, especially if you want heavy visible foot traffic and higher transit usage. Might even contribute to retail coming to the core that's more focused on serving that demographic too.

I'm not sure post-secondary will even help that much though? My partner is currently doing a program at Norquest, and they have flexible options for attending class in-person or online.

She wanted to do all classes in-person, but the best ratio we could get was 50% in person and 50% online. So the net result is she is only on campus 2 days per week (no classes on Friday). It seems like Norquest (not sure about other institutions) is pushing students towards online learning. Maybe that will change when they expand their campus and have more space?

In addition to that, she makes use of an express bus route to get there and back. With it's last departure at 5:15pm, there's a motivation to leave the area right after class to avoid taking regular bus routes that are slower. This could improve once VLW opens though (for anyone coming from the west end).

 

[Kosy123]

I'm not sure post-secondary will even help that much though? My partner is currently doing a program at Norquest, and they have flexible options for attending class in-person or online.

She wanted to do all classes in-person, but the best ratio we could get was 50% in person and 50% online. So the net result is she is only on campus 2 days per week (no classes on Friday). It seems like Norquest (not sure about other institutions) is pushing students towards online learning. Maybe that will change when they expand their campus and have more space?

In addition to that, she makes use of an express bus route to get there and back. With it's last departure at 5:15pm, there's a motivation to leave the area right after class to avoid taking regular bus routes that are slower. This could improve once VLW opens though (for anyone coming from the west end).

I feel like it might once it reaches some sort of critical mass? I keep seeing more students in the core every semester and that seems to coincide with Norquest and MacEwan having more students.