Office Buildings Still Sit Empty in Major Metros

 

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the office return rate was up to 27% and climbing in mid-October. That number has since declined since COVID’S latest spike. Employees are back to working from home, and many corporations are reluctant to say whether they’ll be back anytime soon. This spells trouble for commercial real estate landlords. But even more tragically, small retail businesses are taking the hit, losing a large chunk of their business that comes from foot traffic from nearby office buildings.

Tyler Kern and Daniel Litwin, MarketScale Radio Hosts, consider the ripple effects of empty office space. Kern and Litwin look to the government’s weak financial response to the crisis as a culprit in the trickle down negative effects on businesses big and small.

KEY POINTS:

  • Urban centers still feel like ghost towns as COVID continues to spread.
  • Real estate landlords scramble and pressure the government for a full economic re-opening.
  • Small businesses in urban metros take the financial hit from empty office buildings.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

modern AI architecture
A Practical Guide to Modern AI Architecture, Workflow-First Thinking, and Scalable Business Value
April 24, 2026

Artificial intelligence has already moved beyond the hype cycle and into the day-to-day reality of business operations. Companies across industries are rushing to integrate AI into their workflows, but many are running into the same challenge: it’s relatively easy to build something that works in a demo, and much harder to make it reliable…

Read More
farm
The Business Case for AgTech: Better Data Is Key to Managing Risk on the Farm
April 23, 2026

Farming is under more pressure than it’s been in years. Costs are rising, prices are unpredictable, and every decision carries more weight than it used to. What many still think of as a traditional industry is quietly evolving, with more farmers turning to digital tools to manage risk and stay competitive. It’s not about chasing…

Read More
pre-clinical
From Classroom to Clinic: Pre-Clinical Talent Steps Into Healthcare’s Hard-to-Fill Roles
April 23, 2026

Healthcare systems are facing a workforce crisis that’s no longer temporary—it’s structural. Even before COVID-19, staffing shortages across nursing, technical, and administrative roles were already straining capacity; today, those gaps are wider, costlier, and directly impacting patient access. With labor shortages persisting and burnout rising, health systems are being forced to rethink not just…

Read More
learning
If Higher Ed Wants Experiential Learning at Scale, It Needs a Broader Playbook
April 21, 2026

The ground is shifting under higher education. AI is changing how people learn almost overnight—and at the same time, more than half of graduates are underemployed after finishing their degrees. That’s forcing a more uncomfortable question into the open: what is a college credential really worth today? As employers and governments shift their focus…

Read More