Susan's profressor asks her to write a summary from this text! Help Susan. Then there is a larger question: Does it make sense to go back to the way things were before the pandemic given that people have become accustomed to the rhythms of remote work? “Everyone has different comfort levels with coming back,” said Chuck McShane, a senior vice president at the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, an organization that has helped lure businesses to the area. “For some companies, it depends on the type of work you’re doing and whether you can remain at home. But a concern about continued remote work is, how do entry-level workers get socialized into the office culture?” About a quarter of employees across the country are going into offices these days, according to Kastle Systems, an office security firm that gets data from 3,600 buildings in the United States. Editors’ Picks Travel Quarantines: Enduring the Mundane, One Day at a Time So You Saved a Little Money This Past Year. Now What? How Marty Baron and Jeff Bezos Remade The Washington Post ADVERTISEMENT Continue reading the main story Many companies, paying to rent empty office space, are eager for that number to rise. Their executives believe having employees working side by side improves collaboration, supports the development of younger employees and nurtures the heart and soul of any company — its culture. ImageA mass return to the office would help revive the economies of city centers that have been ghost towns for months. A mass return to the office would help revive the economies of city centers that have been ghost towns for months.Credit...George Etheredge for The New York Times Image A lone pedestrian in Midtown Manhattan. The number of workers returning to the office remains below 20 percent in New York. A lone pedestrian in Midtown Manhattan. The number of workers returning to the office remains below 20 percent in New York.Credit...George Etheredge for The New York Times That’s why some managers like Mark Rose, chief executive of Avison Young, a commercial property consulting and property management firm based in Chicago with offices around the world, are asking employees to return to the office in April. “You’re not going to be fired or written up if you don’t come back, but it is the expectation that, subject to local laws, and subject to your individual issues, that you start to make your way back,” Mr. Rose said about his 5,000 employees. “It absolutely is going to be an expectation.” YOUR CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: We'll send you the latest data for places you care about each day. Sign Up A mass return to the office would, of course, be a boon for commercial real estate companies like Avison Young. Landlords, whose revenues are under threat as corporations move out or reduce the amount of space they rent, would breathe a sigh of relief. Many tenants have more space than they need. In Manhattan, the amount of sublet office space available to rent surged nearly 50 percent last year and it is currently 27 percent of all available space, the highest share since the period right after the 2008 financial crisis, according to Savills. Moreover, a return to the office would help revive city centers that have been ghost towns for months. Restaurants and bars could start hiring again and returning commuters could generate much-needed revenue for struggling transit systems. The course of the pandemic has largely dictated office attendance. That number crashed in March and April last year as the pandemic took hold and started slowly rising in the late spring, according to Kastle. Another surge in infections after Thanksgiving drove occupancy down but it appears to be on an upswing.