Downtown Montreal is hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Usually animated by the thousands of tourists, students, and workers who go there daily, the heart of Montreal is almost deserted, despite a certain deconfinement that began in June.
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Currently, only 5% to 10% of the roughly 300,000 workers who commute there daily have returned to office towers, and teleworking continues to grow in popularity.
“Many employers have contacted me to tell me that teleworking is here to stay, 73% of people will continue, but not full-time as we see now,” explains Michel Leblanc, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal interviewed in Quebec Matin.
“If people want to stay in their slippers, I understand that, but there is a professional reality. I can see it in the House. I insist that my teams come a few days a week. Seeing each other means exchanging ideas differently, advancing projects differently, and ultimately, it brings to the company a form of productivity that we do not have with people scattered in the city who make Teams and videoconferences ”, he pleads.
In addition to bringing teams back to downtown offices and decision-making centers to encourage traffic, more will have to be done.
“It will take help from governments. If we don’t do that, the entire downtown shopping artery will collapse in the coming months. It will become a devastated area, ”he worries.
He does not believe that city centers will disappear, however.
“The day after September 11, many oral presentations at the time said ” we will never travel as before, we will no longer trust the air carriers ” … A year later we had all resumed our habits of go to the south and to Europe. […] Currently the oracles tell us that it is the end of city centers, I think it is too early, there will be changes. The city centers existed for good reasons, and will continue to exist, but we must take care of them in the coming months. ”
According to him, employees who have returned to work find that things are happening in a safe and enjoyable way.
The construction sites, which are very numerous in the city center, can however discourage many. In return, budgets have been allocated to provide entertainment, particularly in the entertainment district, allowing artists to work.
*** See the full interview in the video above. ***
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