Nations across the globe are trying their best to fight the pandemic and are also trying their best to take the economy shift to the pre-pandemic levels. Americans are one of the few nations that are also trying to recover their economy by getting back to work. While it had made a few efforts in recent times, a few companies have reinstated mask mandates and work-from-home mandates after it had eased the restrictions. However, despite the efforts, majority of the offices, continue to remain empty and this is indirectly affecting the economic recovery.
The fact here is that when the employees commute to work, it helps the economy to recover. The employees pay for their travel, the salaries of the train conductors are paid, the cleaners at the office get paid and even the coffee shop by the side of the office makes money. But all these people have been severely affected as employees have remained largely absent from their regular work schedules for about a year and a half.
It was in 2020 when the number of people who are working from home had doubled. Nearly 42 percent of the workforce in America was working from home. At present, given the situation, a number of employees would like to continue to prefer such a setup, but the fact remains that it would also delay the economic recovery. Although there are a few people who have returned back to work but a majority of them are still working remotely. Such people are not spending cash on train tickets, lattes and all the activities that would have come if the employees had gone to work.
At a place like New York, the subway ridership is not even half at the moment. It is said that the public transport system in the city is the largest in the nation. Before the pandemic hit, just the public transport managed to make $17 billion in revenue.
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