The pandemic has radically changed the way we do business. 

Prior to the pandemic, approximately 17% of U.S. employees primarily worked from home. During the pandemic, nearly 70% of full-time employees worked from home. Post-pandemic, more and more companies are expecting employees to put in some time at the office, but that hasn’t put an end to remote work by any means. Some 92% of employees expect to work from home at least one day a week, while 80% expect to work from home at least three days a week.  

For nearly one out of four employees, working from home is worth taking a pay cut of as much as 10%. Employees save roughly $500 per month when working from home, which equates to an annual savings of approximately $6,000. 

With so many employees working from home, companies are reaccessing how much office space they really need. 

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Business Insider reports on the challenges facing the office market. Here’s the start of the story:

Offices have been the weak spot in the commercial real estate market since the pandemic gave rise to widespread remote work and caused companies to reassess how much space they need.

With $1.5 trillion in commercial real estate debt set to mature by the end of next year, questions have arisen about office owners can do to get loans either refinanced or extended in the face of widespread vacancies.

The Federal Reserve’s likely interest rate cut, expected at the end of its meeting on September 18, could give office owners some relief with lower interest rates when they refinance.

But that doesn’t mean they’re in the clear, according to commercial real estate experts.

Given Fed easing, office owners may be more likely to get loans extended, according to CRE Finance Council executive director Lisa Pendergast.

“When you extend a loan, what you’re doing is giving that borrower time to, one, stabilize their property, and perhaps also, knowing that the Fed at some point was going to move and ease rates, that when they start doing that, it will make the refinance that much more palatable,” Pendergast said.