Stephen Ross believes that recession would drive employees back to work

If the US faces a recession, real-estate tycoon Stephen Ross told Bloomberg that employees may return to work out of fear of losing their jobs.

“Employers have been cautious because they don’t want to lose their employees,” Ross told Bloomberg on Friday. “But I think when you go into a recession and people worry they won’t have a job, it will draw people back to the office.”

With an unemployment rate of 3.6 percent in May, the United States is dealing with a tight labour market. Fears of an impending recession have grown after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by the most since 1994 to tackle rising inflation.

“As we move into a recession, or as things tighten up a little,” Ross told Bloomberg, “workers will know that you have to do whatever it takes to keep your job and earn a living.”

Related Companies, the developer of the Time Warner Center and Hudson Yards in New York City, is founded and chaired by Ross. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he has a net worth of $8.4 billion.

Ross’ remarks come as business leaders debate whether to return employees to the workplace following two years of pandemic-induced remote labour. According to Bloomberg, “every executive realises that individuals need to work together.” “You must educate and develop your workers, and you must work as a team. You don’t work on your own.”

Employees are still not returning to work in large numbers. According to data from Kastle Systems, an office security provider, the office occupancy rate in the United States was 44 percent as of June 8. According to the data, this is the highest rate since the epidemic began, but it is still considerably behind the nearly 100 percent attendance rate seen in early March 2020 before the outbreak.

Some business leaders are actively attempting to reintegrate remote workers into the workplace. Last week, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz stated that he was doing “everything” he could to get employees back to work, but that they were not returning “at the level” he desired. Tesla CEO Elon Musk delivered an ultimatum to executive staff earlier this month, informing them that they could either return to work or go.

Some company executives are making a concerted effort to reintegrate remote workers into the workforce. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said last week that he was doing “everything” he could to get workers back to work, but that they weren’t returning “at the level” he wanted. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, gave his executive team an ultimatum earlier this month, telling them that they could either return to work or leave.