Growing Pains
Office space absorption has been CREviews’s focus over the last weeks, and we promise this to be the last one for a while.
Last week Dror Poleg, Economic Historian, highlighted an article by Chip Cutter of the WSJ (26 October 2025), “More Big Companies Bet They Can Still Grow Without Hiring”. The title speaks for itself.
Poleg noted, “Companies are betting they can grow without hiring. They are not wrong. The basic relationship between inputs and outputs has changed: you can create much more value without adding much more labor or raw materials. This is not a new trend; it has been unfolding for fifty years. But AI is intensifying it and spreading it into more industries and professions.”
I have been watching the office markets for many of those 50 years, and I agree that the relationship between inputs and outputs has continued to change. There has been an eternal drive for efficiency and productivity. That drive and transformation is how businesses survive and thrive.
As for AI? For now, it is safe to say we are not seeing the effects of AI on office space. But like all the other technological advancements since the 1990’s, it will have an effect of some sort.
A show of hands at the Canberra Corenet Government Forum (150 people) event earlier this year, most thought AI would have no real effect on jobs, some thought it would have a negative effect, and only 3 said it would have a positive effect. Of course, jobs and office space are inextricably linked.
Technology continues to make companies more efficient, and this has led to the slow and gradual decline in the use of office space. Now it looks like it may have an impact on hiring.
This “growing without hiring” trend is in its early stages and is the one to watch in 2026 and beyond.
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