As men in Finance, we all know the importance of reading The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.  However, Esquire is one of my favorite sources of arbitrary and trivial, yet overwhelmingly useful information.  Let’s face it, how else would the modern man figure out where to shop, what cologne to wear this winter or which color belt to pair with oxblood lace-ups?   

Included with their most recent October issue, Esquire provided a supplemental magazine titled “Working, A Man’s Guide to Fortune and Fulfillment”.   After gawking at my dream watches on page 22, “How to Spend Your Bonus, Watches”, I came across some relevant and interesting information on page 10.  “The New Data”, By Andrew Chaikivsky, provides a statistical insight into the typical American worker. 

The average worker spends about 8 hours and 12 minutes in the office daily.  I would venture to say that this does not illustrate the typical New York City worker.  The average hedge fund employee/trader spends more time at their office space and trading desk than home.  As a result, it is crucial to have bright and comfortable office space for morale. 

70% of office employees work in a cubicle.  I guess we can also include trading desks in this statistic.  The most common hedge fund layout is roughly 30% private offices and 70% trading areas.

In 1994, the average office space per employee was 90 square feet.  Today, it is 70.  There have been vast improvements in architecture and furniture systems. As a result, more efficient and collaborative work environments have formed over the past 20 years. 

The average man with a child at home works 47 hours per week.  The average man without a child at home worked 44.  I have two rationales behind this statistic.

1.  A family man must work harder/longer to support his entire family.

2.  In NYC, single men tend to network and socialize more often than married men.  As a result, they might leave the office earlier to hit up a happy hour or attend another social event.

The average commute time in minutes:
For Drivers: 23
Public Transportation: 53
For Walkers: 16

Commutation patterns are typically the driving force behind office space decisions.  Although investors are the primary consideration, most funds end up where they are because of the principals’ commutes.