In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused office attendance in the world’s top metropolitan areas to drop up to 90 percent. Since then, in-person attendance has stabilized at 30 percent below prepandemic levels but varies according to industry and company size. McKinsey Global Institute partner Jan Mischke, senior partner Aditya Sanghvi, and colleagues find that workers in the knowledge economy—the professional services, information, and finance industries—spend fewer days at the office than those employed in retail, transportation, or agriculture and mining. In addition, workers in big companies spend less time at the office than those who work in firms with fewer employees.
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Two horizontal bar graphs show that office attendance is lower in large firms in the knowledge economy. The first shows the reported number of days per week worked in an office by industry. For all industries, the minimum number of days worked in the office per week is 3, and the maximum is 4. The top 3 industries for the most days worked per week are agriculture and mining, transportation, and retail. The bottom 3 industries with the fewest days worked per week are professional services, information, and finance. The second bar graph shows the reported number of days per week worked in an office by company employee count. Overall, the number of days worked per week increased as the company count grew smaller, with a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 4.
Footnote: Survey respondents were asked, “On average, how many days of the week do you work in the office currently?” These results exclude respondents who said that they were not “currently employed and in the office workforce.” They also exclude respondents who said that they were not currently working full time.
Source: McKinsey Global Institute analysis.
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To read the report, see “Empty spaces and hybrid places: The pandemic’s lasting impact on real estate,” July 13, 2023.