N.B. businesses bounce back with workers returning to the office

The chamber of commerce says nearly 75 per cent of Fredericton office workers have returned to in-person or hybrid work, with 3,000 working from home completely.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions changed life as we know it, including the office structure. Since the work-from-home shift, adjacent businesses that relied on that foot traffic have been left to hope that in-person work returns.

One of those businesses was Kyle Stewart’s Sagrati’s in Saint John’s City Market. His Uptown business relied heavily on nearby offices for his lunch rush.

With more offices returning to hybrid or full-time workweeks, his business has been using that to serve customers in the afternoons.

“Our lunch rushes have defiantly picked up,” he told Global News.

“Being in the City Market, with limited hours and without a night shift, you need that lunch rush. That’s what keeps you afloat.”

The work-from-home push left vacancies in the office real estate market in New Brunswick. According to statistics from Turner and Drake, based in Saint John, vacancies in offices continue to rise across the province.

In some areas of the province, vacancy rates have tripled since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, now hovering between 16 and 19 per cent in the metro cities.

The group estimates there are 8,272,330 square feet of office space between Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton, with growth on the rise.