Global occupier survey results recently revealed that 50% of large multinationals plan to decrease their office space. However, JLL CEO and President Christian Ulbrich believes the worst is behind us for office vacancies and utilization. During an appearance on CNBC’s Last Call, he noted that this leaves another 50% which will likely increase or stay the same.
As an example, Ulbrich pointed to Chicago’s downtown area as a city which has made considerable progress in terms of occupancy since its slower recovery earlier in the pandemic compared to other U.S cities such as San Francisco who have taken longer due to cultural elements at play overseas like living space size affecting whether employees work from home or go back into offices.
Ulbrich concluded by emphasizing his belief that brighter days are ahead for office leasing despite current market conditions caused by COVID-19 disruptions worldwide
