Snapshots

Despite recent softness, office-using employment has grown since the pandemic

June 11, 2024

Contributors:

Although the labor market has softened for office-using industries in the past year and diverged from the broader economy, the technology, finance, and professional services sectors still register employment levels more than 4% higher than at the outset of the pandemic.

The softening in the labor market over the past two years has enabled employers to significantly progress their return-to-office and hybrid strategies: more than 90% of the Fortune 100 now have hybrid or full office requirements, with a large share being established in the past 18 months.

Population growth and corporate migration activity in the Sun Belt has driven a quicker recovery in some regions—most notably for markets in Texas and Florida, which are collectively up over 15% since the pandemic began and down by less than 0.5% over the past 12 months. Strong hiring in Dallas-Fort Worth drove the metroplex ahead of the Chicago MSA for office-using employment for the first time, ranking Dallas as the third-largest office labor market in the U.S.

Total nonfarm employment has not declined nationally month-over-month since December 2020, highlighting the recent bifurcation between white-collar jobs and the broader labor market.

With 2023 characterized as a “year of efficiency” by some large tech employers, headcounts now appear to be stabilizing in tandem with the bounce-back in share prices.

Net effective office rents have increased since the pandemic in most major CBDs

Sun Belt markets are exceeding 98% of pre-pandemic office leasing volume over the past six months

In-office policies drive stronger stock market performance