As more and more companies across the globe are phasing out the pandemic-induced work-from-home and asking employees to return to offices, there is a new benchmark to get an idea of how many people are back in office. They are water coolers.
Bevi, a US-based startup found that the amount of water used from its water coolers was in tandem with the office occupancy rates tracked by US-based security firm Kastle Systems during the pandemic years, according to a Bloomberg report
Over 5,000 companies in the US use Bevi water coolers.
In 2021, Bevi water coolers were operating at 28 per cent of pre-pandemic levels for the full year. This number nearly matched with Kastle’s 30 per cent return-to-office rate. The figures gradually increased in tandem to just over 40 per cent as offices started reopening in 2022.
Sean Grundy, Bevi’s co-founder and CEO, told Bloomberg that the company has relieved inquiries from hedge funds and other investors who want to go through this water cooler-employee data to understand larger work trends that have changed since the beginning of the pandemic.