The newly elected mayor of New York City is Eric Adams. He rose to prominence in the NYPD, and then ran for and won the seat of Brooklyn Borough President.
He’s not been without his fair share of scandal and gossip.
The most popular rumor surrounding the mayor is that he actually lives in New Jersey. This was addressed in a series of rather strange news interview where he walked the camera crews through his home in the city (which many commentators speculated was quite suspicious).
As the new city mayor, he has to deal with several pressing issues in New York City. Namely, violence.
The city is home to millions of workers, but many of them are now working remotely and no longer venturing into the city. This is costing the city millions in the form of MTA fares, landlords (who are always friendly with New York Mays) are also screaming about their lost rents.
So, to tackle this problem, the mayor has floated some interesting ides. The first one being a three day workweek.
Let’s look at some of the issues.
The Challenges to New York City: Covid and Subway Violence
The city shut down due to covid and offices were closed. People were forced to remain at home and not work in person in their offices.
Many white collar companies realized that they could continue on working during the shutdown without a decrease in productivity, and they would save rent.
However, now that the city is re-opened, the landlords and city government official would like everyone back. Obviously, that is causing an issue.
In addition to people no longer wanting to spend time and money commuting, and companies not wanting to spend money renting office space, there is the question of violence.
New York City is experiencing record crime in the city. Subways in particular are one of the most dangerous places for normal citizens.
Some have speculated that the lax attitude towards prosecuting crime is to blame. Others claim the prior mayor, DeBlasio was soft on crime and turned the city into a violent space where people were unsafe.
Are Subways Safe For New York City Commuters?
The big question to be asked before addressing a return to in-person work, is if the subways are safe?
The answer, sadly, is that they are not. The mental health programs funded by tax payers and ran by city officials and those connected to them were, by all accounts, a major failure.
Therefore you have crimes of random violence occurring in populated areas like Times Square and Penn Station.
This is devastating for the image of the city. Commuters who live in New Jersey, Long Island, Westchester and other outlying areas do not want to travel into the city just to be mugged, assaulted, pushed in front of subways, or otherwise be the victim of violence.
There are many reasons for the uptick in Subway crime. Some of them are:
- Lax Police Enforcement due to Protests
- The Situation With NYC Bail Reform
- Violent Criminals Being Let Out On the Streets
- The New DA Being Soft on Crime
The last issue is one of the more problematic ones. There has been tension between the new Manhattan DA and others in the media and government due to the soft on crime attitude.
Public Outcry Against Subway Violence
Normally in New York City, a small segment of the population will always defend the city and crime stats and claim that it is safe. When people are shot down in the streets, robbed in the middle of the day, or pushed in front of subways, there is a usual chorus of people who say “it’s normal for any big city”.
This time, however, the violence has grown so out of hand that there are protests in Times Square. Even on forums like Reddit, where people tend to romanticize the urban mess of NYC, there is quite the turn around.
Criminals, many of them suffering from mental illness and drug addition, roam the streets attacking people every day and there is little movement from most politicians.
It therefore makes sense that the return to in-person work will be slow.
Major banks are even telling their staff to dress down and not appear to have money in an effort to avoid being robbed and attacked in Midtown.
Is a Hybrid Working Situation the Solution?
The solution proposed by the Mayor right now is to create a hybrid working solution. This comes after his speech where he told white collar workers that their “low skill” fellow New Yorkers needed them in the city. There was enormous chatter in the press over this incredibly crude statement.
However, how does the 3 day a week hybrid work week sound to New Yorkers?
Well, for those that are already in-person (government workers, retail workers) it sounds great. But for those who are still remote, why would they like it?
The challenge to the city is to fix the infrastructure. The subways in the best of times were crowded and dangerous off hours. Now they are dangerous during all hours.
Only working three days a week in person is still putting yourself at risk.
Recruiters who work on executive level roles, sales roles, account executive, and other private sector positions all tell me the same thing. You’re not shifting the situation at this point.
The city is dangerous and because of Covid restrictions, it’s no longer the fun place that it used to be. So there is little to no reason for people to commute who don’t have to.
What Are Recruiters Hearing?
As we touched on above, it’s a universal story. Companies who are hiring for executive roles are finding that all applicants want remote work. And because the skill set and job duties do not require in person work, they won’t budge.
Low skilled work, as the mayor mentioned, still has an in-person element. As do medical roles and the non-profit sector where people work with people in-person (helping them fill out forms to qualify for Medicaid and other government benefits and enroll in free government housing, and other programs).
The interesting shift is that now even people in the Medical and Non-Profit field are angling for work from home work. Nurses are all seeking telephonic roles and case managers all want to work remotely.
The big pushback against those roles transitioning to work from home is that managers and staff in those settings are less likely to be able to do their work remotely (either due to challenges with the population they are working with, or more problematic—the opportunity to double dip and work multiple jobs simultaneously and therefore neglect both).
Hey I’m Chris . 20+ years in the industry. I’ve worked every role from Executive recrutier to Agency founder and consultant. If you want to learn more or reach me,vist the about page or use my contact form.