Here’s why Whatcom has fewer people working from home and what that means for offices
Whatcom County has a smaller percentage of jobs that allow working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic than the nation’s average.
The Bellingham metro area, which is all of Whatcom County, has an estimated 32.2% of jobs where working from home or remotely is possible, according to a new study from the website Outdoorsy. The U.S. average is 35.5%.
Whatcom’s working parents have an even smaller percentage of remote work options, according to a separate report by the website RetailMeNot. It estimates 26.6% of working parents have remote-friendly jobs, while the national average is 33.6%. Lawrence, Kansas, had the highest concentration for small metro areas, topping 45%.
Both reports used data from the U.S. Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to come up with the findings.
One reason for the difference is the labor force makeup in Whatcom County. On a percentage basis, this area has more construction, manufacturing and retail jobs that aren’t as adaptable to work-from-home options during a pandemic. All three industries experienced very strong job growth locally in the past decade, according to data from the Washington Employment Security Department.
While Whatcom County has a lower-than-average percentage of remote-friendly jobs, it’s still a significant amount — 28,826, according to the Outdoorsy report. That means the huge changes to how office space is being used during the pandemic is expected to continue well into 2021. Bellingham alone has around 5 million square feet of office space, said Troy Muljat of The Muljat Group.
For bigger office-focused companies in Bellingham, offices have remained mostly empty. At Faithlife, which occupies several downtown buildings, most employees have worked from home since the beginning of the pandemic, said Bob Pritchett, president and CEO of the company.
“A small number come in once in a while because they need something or miss their office, and just a couple have worked on site through the pandemic because they don’t have a great setup for working from home — or prefer it — but we have enough space that most of them get a building, or at least a floor, to themselves,” Pritchett said in an email.
At this point, Pritchett expects plenty of work-from-home and splitting time at the office in 2021 for the Bible software company.
“It’s too early to know how it’s going to play out, though,” Pritchett said. “The most important thing is coming up with a model that works well for our employees, and helps us serve our customers well.”
What’s next for office space
For companies that manage and lease office space, the uncertainty the pandemic has created will remain in place throughout 2021.
First, there is the when, as in when most workers will be allowed to return to offices. For Bellingham’s Pacific Continental Realty, most tenants have been extending the work-from-home rules to random dates in 2021, said KC Coonc, co-owner of the firm. Coonc said most office tenants continue to pay rent on time.
As for what happens after the pandemic is under control, Coonc expects some employees will continue to work from home because they provide high productivity and low overhead costs. However many employers will come to realize there’s a significant drop in productivity in certain situations, particularly when it comes to team collaboration.
“Likewise, there are likely many employees that are working from home that have cabin fever and want to be in a structured working office,” Coonc said in an email.
There is an expectation that office vacancy rates in Bellingham will rise as a result of the pandemic and as some employees find working from home a good solution. The higher vacancy rate might be short-lived, however; Coonc noted that there has not been much new office construction this year and there’s plenty of discussion about converting existing office space into something else.
“I suspect the vacancy rate will be absorbed rather quickly through right-sizing,” Coonc said.
This story was originally published December 29, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
