While the cost of office cleaning and maintenance dropped significantly earlier in the pandemic when workers went remote en masse, 2022 is likely to see that cost increase again as more and more employees head back to the office.

Until now, office cleaning has been catering to empty or, at best, half-full facilities, but the challenge is likely to get more intense this year as capacity swells again.

The New York Times notes that numerous measures are already being taken by facility managers, such as installing more robust air filtration and expanding outdoor spaces. While the cost of running an office remains lower than pre-pandemic levels, these latest upgrades are closing that gap. Meanwhile, new cleaning practices may make those services more expensive, and landlords are offering new amenities to lure tenants back.

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“Operating expenses were down a bit in 2020,” Kristin Mueller, chief operating officer for property management at real estate services company JLL, told the NYT. “For 2022 properties budgets, we are anticipating modest overall increases.”

While having fewer employees on site equates to less daily cleaning, the required level of cleaning has increased, resulting often in higher labour costs and more targeted work. The increased focus on indoor air quality has been a major change, with many companies scrutinizing their ventilation and funnelling more money and resources into improvements. Mueller estimates that new HVAC equipment for a typical 100,000-square-foot office building in Chicago, for example, might cost up to $100,000 to install and can add five to 10 per cent to monthly bills.

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But it’s a necessary expense, not just for baseline health and safety and infection control, but to ensure that buildings have the confidence and trust of their residents, tenants, and visitors. While one could argue that few people cared about “healthy buildings” in 2019, there has been a sea change that will likely prove to be permanent. Now, employees might be asking how often the air filters are cleaned in an office, and buildings are responding.

Meanwhile, other steps being taken include the continuation of the focus on the adoption of touch-free technology to operate doors, faucets, bins, and lighting, as well as ensuring employee welfare takes priority through offering value-added services such as workout facilities, showers, health clinics, and green spaces.