CBD hairdresser Russell James said he was still trading 50 per cent down on pre-COVID figures as people were reluctant to come back to the city,using spurious excuses such as bad weather to stay home.
“It’s just people being lazy,” he said. “There has got to be a push for people to get back into their offices,to be reminded that this was only ever a temporary measure. Stop pussy footing around.”
Business Sydney said it was disappointing the government had shelved its “Thank God It’s Friday” lunch vouchers – announced with fanfare in June 2021,days before the onset of the Delta wave,to encourage people back into the CBD on the final working day of the week.
It said the vouchers should be brought back for spring,and the government should consider free public transport on Fridays for six months.
“You can see there aren’t a lot of people in the city on Monday and Friday,” said Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou. “We now want the government to do the heavy lifting so that employees who work for the government come back on a more regular basis.”
The lobby group and independent MP for Sydney Alex Greenwich agreed public servants should be working in the office at least three days a week. Foot traffic was still a problem on either side of the weekend,they said.
Greenwich said the government lacked a “strategic approach” to ensuring people return to the CBD for work and play. “We really need a strong focus on supporting smaller businesses and a real focus on Monday to Friday. A critical part of that is ensuring people are back in the office,” he said.