OFFICE RUMORS: “BIG BANG” IS COMING

In addition to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo proclaiming last week that the city is reopening (see our new article, “NEW YORK: READY TO REOPEN. CALLS FOR MASS VAX,”) Bloomberg reported last Tuesday that JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon issued a staff memo that the bank “would fully expect that by early July, all U.S.-based employees will be in the office on a consistent rotational schedule.” 
The article clarifies Dimon’s reference to “rotational schedule” as “50 percent occupancy cap until U.S. authorities revise their social-distancing guidelines.”
Bloomberg noted that JPMC would be the first significant bank requiring a return to the office: “Industry leaders have been preparing for an end to remote work since the earliest months of the pandemic last year.”
The Bloomberg article also cited that Dimon “expects economic and social damage to result from a longer stretch of working from home” and that the head of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. referred to the necessity of remote-working to be an “aberration” requiring a quick turnaround.
One of those most pleased by these statements is Bill Rudin, CEO of one of the city’s largest office landlords, who told Bloomberg,
“This is fantastic news and the fact that it’s JPMorgan and Jamie Dimon—this will send a very positive message to other CEOs, not just in New York but around the country, to start making plans to on-board their employees.”
In addition, JPMorgan will “strongly encourage” its staff to get vaccinated, but will not mandate it.
Other large banks such as Citigroup and Deutsche Bank AG are also expecting some workers to return to the office. Wells Fargo & Co. announced it would like to see a “more normal operating model.”
To date, the office occupancy rate in New York City is 15.8 percent according to Kastle Systems. 
TREND FORECAST: As we have reported and detailed when the COVID War broke out in March of 2020 and New York and other states locked down, the commercial real estate sector would be hard hit… which it has been.
While the media is making a big deal about JPMorgan’s honcho calling the team back to work and making it appear that others will follow, as detailed in our numerous reports, we disagree.
Moreover, with the massive amounts of debt the big private equity and other investment groups, which own large chunks of the commercial sector, owe the banks, it is clear that the “Come back to work” Bankster cheer is solely out of fear they won’t be paid when the landlords go bust.