Microsoft and Facebook parent Meta are both leaving office buildings in the US. Which is the latest indication of the office market softening and upheaval in the tech industry. Facebook confirmed plans to sublet its offices at a sixstory arbor block three, three in downtown Seattle and eleven story block six of the Spring District in Bellevue, according to the Seattle Times, The social media giant is also reviewing contracts in other Seattle office buildings. Microsoft says it will not renew its current lease at the 26 storey city Center Plaza in Bellevue when the contract expires in June next year.
Those announcements come as demand for office space in Seattle and elsewhere in the United States have taken a hit from remote work and a downturn in the tech industry that has resulted in massive layoffs.
Microsoft and Meta have both embraced remote work while reducing their workforces. Meta announced the layoffs of 726 employees in the Seattle area in November last year. According to the Seattle Times, Even occupied offices are sometimes just half full because of remote work. Since last summer, only 40% of the workers have returned to offices compared to before the pandemic. In downtown Seattle.
The US Office space market is going through a soft market. A soft market is a period of the economic cycle in which there are more sellers than buyers and prices are low.
