Business leaders call for workers to come home to city offices
City workers must return to their CBD offices before struggling traders succumb to the lack of traffic and create more dead zones, Adelaide business leaders say.
Coronavirus
Don't miss out on the headlines from Coronavirus. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Business and community leaders are urging workers to get back into the Adelaide CBD as new figures show four in ten are still working from home.
Dead zones in pockets of the city, a lack of office workers lingering in the CBD after hours and a loss of appetite for long lunches is placing the future of many businesses in jeopardy, concerned stakeholders say.
A Property Council of Australia survey of major employers across the country has found an estimated 61 per cent of office workers have returned to work in Adelaide – compared to a national average of 47 per cent.
The Property Council’s SA chief Daniel Gannon told the Sunday Mail said office workers in both the private and public sector needed to return wherever it is safe.
“South Australia is the safest and most resilient state in the nation, and Adelaide is the safest capital city in Australia,” Mr Gannon said.
“The viability of our city and its businesses, cafes and restaurants is reliant upon all workers returning to their office workplace.”
Mr Gannon’s pledge has been endorsed by a raft of others from the Treasurer Rob Lucas to the Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor.
Ms Verschoor said the council has been trying to encourage people back into the CBD with new deals on parking and accommodation and hospitality promotions.
“The more people you have got moving through your city, the better all of the businesses do.
She said there was some areas that were back up to near full occupancy but other areas that had become dead zones.
“The East and West End is doing great, particularly around Leigh Street and Peel Street,” she said.
“Rundle Mall has got good foot traffic but then you go into the area between Grenfell and Pirie Street, where many workers are not back, and the foot traffic is really down.”
“We are encouraging corporates as much as possible to bring their workers back.
“When you are coming to the city to work you also often stay behind, to have a meal or go to the market, and that is the sort of thing that we are actively encouraging to extend the linger period if you like.”
Australian Hotels Association SA boss Ian Horne said it was important to get both the public service and the big corporate employers back 100%.
“It is crunch time for a lot of these operators,” Mr Horne said.
“The food and beverage component of the CBD is still in desperate straits.
“Even though the numbers of office workers are returning slowly workers have not brought back with them the spending on lunches or staying behind for a meal or a drink after work.
“We are starting to see a little bit on Friday afternoons but Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday are pretty quiet in Adelaide.”
Mr Lucas said the default position from the State Government and the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment was for public sectors workers to return to work from the office as opposed to working from home whenever it is safe to do so.
Across the country figures vary greatly.
Melbourne, which continues to be in hard lockdown, has just seven per cent, of its workforce back.
Darwin, where the response and handling of COVID has closely resembled Adelaide, has an estimated 72 per cent of office workers back into its CBD.
CBD eateries on steady path back to normal
By Colin James
Restaurateur George Kasimatis is delighted office workers are steadily returning to Adelaide’s CBD.
His popular Waymouth Street establishment is among the dozens of city hospitality venues adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Kasimatis said business had finally got back to normal after a disruptive 12-month street upgrade, “when COVID comes along”.
“From early March, every phone call was a cancellation, just about all of them were events and group bookings,” he said. “Our revenue dropped by 75 per cent.”
Mr Kasimatis said he kept going with takeaways during the lockdown before restructuring his opening hours when restrictions were lifted.
“We’ve gone from breakfast and lunch from Mondays to Fridays, dinner from Mondays to Saturdays, coffee all day to lunch on Wednesdays to Fridays, dinner on Wednesdays to Saturdays and no coffee,” he said.
Mr Kasimatis said he was grateful for the support from his regular customers, and the hard work of his staff through the most difficult period since he opened 18 years ago.
“Things are slowly coming back to normal but there is still a long way to go,” he said. “People are getting out more but they are still cautious.
“There is more activity out in the suburbs than there is in the city but hopefully that is starting to change.”
