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Dallas workers heading back to office at highest rate in U.S., study shows

Dallasites are punching back in.

Photo by Tom Werner/Getty Images

So much for that everybody-working-from-home thing. New data shows Dallas-Fort Worth workers have headed back to the office in greater numbers than workers in nine other major U.S. metros.

Figures from Kastle Systems, a provider of security services for buildings, indicate 41.4 percent of workers in Dallas-Fort Worth were at the office as of October 21 compared with pre-pandemic levels. By comparison, Kastle Systems’ 10-metro average was 27.4 percent. Kastle says this data makes Dallas-Fort Worth the “most open” place among the 10 metros.

Dallas-Fort Worth “was definitely locked down like everywhere else, but it has consistently been the least locked-down major metropolitan area that we track,” Kastle Systems Chairman Mark Ein told Bisnow. “It consistently has had the highest [office] occupancy of all markets throughout the entire period. Even in March, when everyone else was in lockdown, [DFW] was significantly more open than all of the other cities.”

To assess office occupancy habits since pandemic lockdowns went into effect, Kastle Systems has been examining keycard, fob, and app data from 3,600 buildings and 41,000 businesses in 138 cities. Its weekly back-to-the-office barometer reflects access activity in Dallas and nine other major metros:

Houston
Austin
New York City
Los Angeles
Chicago
Philadelphia
Washington, D.C.
San Francisco
San Jose, California

According to the Kastle Systems data, Houston ranks second for back-to-the-office activity, with a 37.9 percent occupancy rate as of October 21. Austin shows up at No. 5, with a 35.1 percent occupancy rate.

In last place among the 10 metros is New York City, where the occupancy rate was 17.4 percent.

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Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

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