Capital Conversation: Goodbye, Friday 5pm drinks

Wednesday, 18 September 2024

Join the conversation in the comments section below.

With the 9 to 5 working day undergoing dramatic change since the Covid pandemic it’s not only our offices that are being affected, with remote working keeping more people in the suburbs and away from the city.

While areas like Petone may have their advantages, centralWellington ‒ formerly flush with public servants ‒ has been left in the lurch.

Robert Walters Wellington senior director Bridget Clarke said there was increasing demand for hybrid work arrangements in Wellington, with flexible working arrangements seen as one of the top three benefits sought by professionals.

In research they conducted 45% of professionals said work-life balance was the most important factor when they were considering a new role.

“It is safe to say that the majority of candidates we encounter mention their desire for flexible working during the hiring process and if an employer doesn’t offer this benefit, the candidates seem very disappointed and may not pursue the opportunity.”

Candidates who lived outside of Wellington ‒ particularly in Kāpiti and the Wairarapa ‒ were requesting more days to work at home, only wanting to come into the office one or two days a week, she said.

“A lot of jobs we see do offer Monday and Friday as a work from home option and judging from the lack of traffic into the CBD on these days, I’d say there [is] a significant amount of people working from home on these days.

“Thursday after-work drinks have become the new Friday after-work drinks and this is definitely evident around the city.”

Baylands Brewery managing director Aidan Styles wouldn’t say Friday after-work drinks had moved to Thursday ‒ he said they appeared to have vanished entirely.

“The after-work crowd is a lot smaller than it used to be. It could just be hospitality-related with people spending less, but I think it is more related to a lot more people working from home on a Friday.”

As for the early week lunch crowd, forget it. Styles said the brewery’s Petone-based taproom was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, as there was “absolutely no one around”.

Juniper Bay owner Ivy Shen said customers were pretty much non-existent on Mondays.

Fridays were also quiet now, she said, more like a Monday.

The bar, which has been around since 2003, was experiencing more consistency with its dinner crowd than with lunch.

While the noonday crowd could be busy, it was difficult to predict when the customers would come in, she said.

Staffing-wise, the business had cut as much as it could, requiring Shen to be in the bar almost constantly, she said.

She said the business was “struggling,” the same as everyone was at the moment.

“People aren’t in the city any more.”

Goodbye, lunchtime rush

Restaurant Association CEO Marisa Bidois said the lunch crowd in Wellington had “certainly” been affected by remote working.

She said the shift to remote working in Wellington, particularly in the central city, had resulted in less people being “physically present” during traditional lunch hours.

This had impacted hospitality businesses, she said, which rely heavily on the lunch crowd for revenue.

“With fewer workers commuting into the city each day, foot traffic has noticeably decreased, both at lunchtime and after work.”

While she didn’t have specific examples, she said it was “highly likely” that many restaurants had to adjust staffing patterns as a response to fewer customers during the day.

When customers decreased, businesses naturally looked to cut costs including reducing staff hours.

“For some, this may mean shifting more focus and staffing resources to evenings, when foot traffic and demand are still relatively stronger, while trimming down the number of employees scheduled during quieter daytime shifts.”

Fidel’s owner Roger Young said remote working had seriously affected his business, pulling his lunch crowd out to the suburbs.

He thought remote working was the biggest factor in why Wellington felt empty.

“Too many places, too many government [departments] and banks right across the board are working from home. And I think that's the number one crisis we've got at the moment.”

He said he knew a lot of people who worked from home, and thought their productivity improve if they were in the office.

“It's not good for people to be working and living in one space … As humans, we're designed to socialise by going to the office and bouncing ideas off someone.”

KK Malaysia manager Angeline Tan also mentioned that the restaurant’s lunchtime crowd had been seriously affected following the pandemic.

While the evenings were still busy, she said it was difficult to predict which nights would see customers come through.

One of the managers of Concrete Bar on Lambton Quay, who asked to remain unnamed due to privacy concerns, said as they had live music on Thursdays and Fridays, both days continued to be busy.

However, she said that over the past two months foot traffic had been pretty much non-existent, as the majority of the bar’s customers worked in the public service.

Over the past two months, she had seen two leaving dos held at the bar.

“Everyone is hurting.”

In this new series, Capital Conversation, The Post is digging even deeper into the issues holding Wellington back, while continuing to champion what’s great