Downtown Moncton has been a lot quieter since the pandemic began with many employees still working remotely from home almost two years later.
The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Moncton says 20 of the largest downtown employers were recently asked about their plans for this year.
CEO John Wishart says early results show remote work is here to stay and many plan to continue with either remote or hybrid work.
“It will have a lasting impact on downtown. We don’t know the percentages yet but some of the big employers… like Blue Cross, Assumption Life, Atlantic Lotto, the federal government… still aren’t fully back.”
Wishart says taking 20 to 50 percent of those workers away from the office means nearby businesses are feeling the pinch.
“We estimate there are roughly 21-22,000 people that work downtown. If we take 20-50 percent out of that workforce on a daily basis, that really has an impact on restaurants, cafes and service providers.”
On a positive note, Wishart says a lot of residential construction is underway so we may be seeing a shift from working downtown to living downtown.
He adds as a community we need to think about how we respond to that and what services are now needed if more people are actually living in the core.
