Businesses within the central cities of New Zealand are worried people who shifted to working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic may make that shift permanent.
The fear is particularly prevalent in Wellington, where since March 2020 the public sector has largely been asked to work from home if possible. Central Wellington, usually bustling with public sector workers, has since become a ghost town, according to local business owners.
Mojo Coffee chief executive Pierre van Heerden said the number of people choosing to work from home had been extremely tough for CBD businesses.
“This is a very serious situation for hospitality in general. You just need to walk down any of the major streets in Auckland or Wellington and you will see cafes closed and can’t operate at current levels of business.”
In Auckland, spending in restaurants and cafés spending is down 19.8 percent. While customers had been a great support of their local restaurants out in the suburbs, many CBD businesses have not been so lucky.
“The biggest issue is that CBD businesses are out of sight, out of mind. A lot of people might not be thinking about what is happening in their CBD, because they are not there to see it,” noted Auckland restaurant Cafe Hanoi owner, Krishna Botica.
Christchurch Central City Business Association chairwoman Annabel Turley said the situation in the garden city was dire.
“Things are particularly bad in Christchurch because we have a lot of new businesses, and we can see that this work-from-home situation and drop-off in customers has been terrible for business owner mental health.”
