Some of the world’s largest tech companies are holding off on office expansion in New York City.
Recently, Meta chose to walk away from taking up 300,000 more square feet on Broadway in a building where it currently occupies. Simultaneously, the company is holding off on expanding its Hudson Yards presence as it decides what the best use for the space will be.
“There are often a number of reasons why we wouldn’t proceed with a particular deal, including office utilization,” said Jamila Reeves, a spokesperson for Meta.
“The past few years have brought new possibilities around the ways we connect and work. We are working to ensure we’re making focused, balanced investments to support our most strategic long-term priorities.”
Similarly, Amazon has recently reduced the space it planned to lease from JPMorgan Chase at Hudson Yards.
Coinciding with the decreased need for office space has been the wider adoption of flexible and remote working models.
However, this isn’t the only factor impacting office take-up — the declining economy is forcing companies large and small to take action that will help recession-proof their business.
Some are doing so by pausing hiring, while others are taking it to another level by conducting layoffs.
Still, this doesn’t necessarily mean large businesses will completely shed their office presence in Manhattan. Instead, the likes of Amazon and Meta are taking precautions to ensure that their losses won’t accumulate when the economy takes a downturn and office supply inevitably increases, losing value.
