Two Conflicting Office Trends. Mandates and AI Impact

One the one hand, “The half-decade push to bring employees back to the office after the onset of the pandemic has crossed a significant threshold, according to JLL: More than half of employees at Fortune 100 companies are now required to come in five days a week. July 23, 2025 “  ET Emily Wishingrad, Washington, D.C.  While at the same time, “AI-Driven Job Losses Pressure California’s Labor Market, Now Second-Highest Unemployment in the Country “TheRegistry July 22, 2025. Then the same day I read both of these headlines, in the Harrisburg Commercial Real Estate Report, Phil Mobley of Costar Analytics commented that while New York is seeing positive net office absorption, “not many other large U.S. cities have seen a similar resurgence. Of the 12 markets with at least $50 billion in office asset value, only five have recorded positive net absorption over the past year. He concludes that ‘it may take still some time before some markets fund their footing.”