A new report suggests CBD offices across the country are struggling to be filled, with vacancy rates touching a 17-year high, according to The Australian Financial Review.
The research, by real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle, indicates cost-cutting and hot desking are having an impact as the amount of empty office space climbed to 11.4 per cent of total supply for the first time since 1997.
Jones Lang LaSalle’s head of research and consulting, David Rees, said falling office vacancies was a global phenomenon and not isolated to Australia.
“It’s too simple to say its just the economy, different cities have specific factors but one of the effects of the global financial crisis is people are a lot more cautious,” he told the AFR. “They want to see their businesses growing before they go out and lease space and move in.”
The news comes after recent soft jobs data, which showed the number of full-time employees fell by over 30,000 in December.