• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Microsoft AI chief gives it 18 months—for all white-collar work to be automated by AI

2

Despite having a $165 million net worth, Scarlett Johansson says work-life balance doesn’t exist—and the first step to success is admitting that

3

The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises

1

Microsoft AI chief gives it 18 months—for all white-collar work to be automated by AI

2

Despite having a $165 million net worth, Scarlett Johansson says work-life balance doesn’t exist—and the first step to success is admitting that

3

The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
Successreturn to office

Demand for office space is skyrocketing, especially in New York City and Los Angeles

By
Jane Thier
Jane Thier
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Jane Thier
Jane Thier
Down Arrow Button Icon
April 26, 2024, 10:50 AM ET
View of the Manhattan skyline at sunset
Alexander Spatari—Getty Images

Big city living officially includes offices again.

Recommended Video

Demand for office space in New York City and Los Angeles has reached the outer edges of the pre-pandemic rate of demand, according to the latest quarterly Office Demand Index from real estate software firm VTS, released Wednesday. 

In March 2024, the nation’s two largest cities by population experienced their highest levels of office demand since August 2021. It’s part of a larger upward trend blanketing the U.S. as March marked the ninth consecutive month of positive year-over-year growth in office demand, VTS found. Perhaps that’s no surprise, as work-from-home rates, by their count, have dropped to their lowest ever since lockdowns. 

The VTS Office Demand Index (VODI) tracks “unique new tenant tour requirements of office properties in core U.S. markets,” which the company uses as a leading indicator of office leasing activity. Last month, national office space demand grew from 58% to 65% of its average pre-pandemic level—which VTS chalks up both to a rising trend and a seasonal boost. (Office interest tends to pick up in springtime, the firm found.)

“We are hearing on the ground and on the streets that working from the office is increasingly becoming the norm again for many industries and metro areas,” Nick Romito, VTS chief executive, wrote in the report. But, naturally, some holdouts—more remote-work friendly cities like Seattle, Boston, and San Francisco—are digging their heels in, keeping steadily low in-office days, despite adding more jobs. “There is likely a significant culture shift at play,” Romito said.

Indeed, the work-from-home picture has become more and more fragmented in different U.S. cities, the report said. New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., are leading the return pack, while Boston, San Francisco, and Seattle trail behind. 

Between October 2020 and September 2023, the gap in in-office attendance between those groups was about 28%, per VTS data. But between October 2023 and March 2024, that gap swelled to 37%. (Office demand in Washington, D.C., VTS found, rises and falls in tandem with the presidential election; demand falls during election years, as some firms grapple with whether or not they’ll stay in town under a new administration. Demand there is currently down by nearly a third from last year.) 

Demand for office space in Los Angeles has shot up nearly 90% over the past 13 months, per the VTS index. Since August 2022, demand in New York City has also skyrocketed—by nearly 96%. That enthusiasm might become contagious. 

A New York–esque revival of business might soon manifest in other major metros, predicted Ryan Masiello, chief strategy officer at VTS. “But it’s slow and I expect they will take a different track to normalcy,” he wrote. “Instead of the same major tech employers leading the way in the return to the office, we will see employers in more traditional lines of work take advantage of the opportunity.”

But pro-office bosses shouldn’t get too excited; VTS is only one of many office trackers, and employees remain as bullish as ever about working on their terms. Data exclusively provided to Fortune from real estate consultancy and security firm Kastle Systems finds offices across 10 major metropolitan areas in the U.S. were just 52% full last week, roughly as full as they’ve been all year. 

As remote-work expert and Stanford economist Nick Bloom has said, the inflection point for any major return-to-office move has come and gone. “The Census data, Kastle [office occupancy data], it’s flat as a pancake,” Bloom said in August. “We’re not heading into the office, but we’re not heading out either. It is completely level.”

“The banner moment to return has probably already passed,” José Maria Barrero, another future-of-work expert economist, told Fortune last February. “I would’ve thought last fall or last spring, some time like that.” Any companies that had plans of making a huge shift mandatory have “probably already done so.”

At the Fortune Workplace Innovation Summit, Fortune 500 leaders will convene to explore the defining questions shaping the workforce of the future—delivering bold ideas, powerful connections, and actionable insights for building resilient organizations for the decade ahead. Join Fortune May 19–20 in Atlanta. Register now.
About the Author
By Jane Thier
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Success

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Success

tarot
AICulture
We talked to 12 tarot card readers who are using AI. They split in 2 camps, with big implications for the technology
By Ziv Epstein, Farnaz Jahanbakhsh, Vana Goblot and The ConversationMay 16, 2026
7 hours ago
tom
SuccessEntrepreneurs
Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio got a 15x return on a tech company most Americans have never heard of. He thinks his own industry is broken
By Nick LichtenbergMay 16, 2026
10 hours ago
Kurt Alexander, president of Omni Hotels & Resorts
SuccessCareers
Gen Z wants AI-proof jobs. The president of a 50-property hotel chain says hospitality is hiding in plain sight
By Preston ForeMay 16, 2026
11 hours ago
cyborg
Future of WorkProductivity
AI’s cyborg problem: you have to embrace it to really succeed but 90% of people can’t or don’t want to
By Nick LichtenbergMay 16, 2026
12 hours ago
connor vukelich
Future of WorkGen Z
Meet the 20-year-old CEO who launched a company in high school to solve Gen Z’s entry-level job crisis
By Jake AngeloMay 16, 2026
13 hours ago
alex
Future of WorkGen Z
Leaders, stop with the Gen Z generalizations 
By Alex CooperMay 16, 2026
15 hours ago

Most Popular

Microsoft AI chief gives it 18 months—for all white-collar work to be automated by AI
AI
Microsoft AI chief gives it 18 months—for all white-collar work to be automated by AI
By Jake AngeloMay 16, 2026
9 hours ago
Despite having a $165 million net worth, Scarlett Johansson says work-life balance doesn’t exist—and the first step to success is admitting that
Success
Despite having a $165 million net worth, Scarlett Johansson says work-life balance doesn’t exist—and the first step to success is admitting that
By Preston ForeMay 13, 2026
3 days ago
The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
Politics
The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
By Jake AngeloMay 12, 2026
4 days ago
Current price of oil as of May 15, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of May 15, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 15, 2026
1 day ago
Meet the 20-year-old CEO who launched a company in high school to solve Gen Z's entry-level job crisis
Future of Work
Meet the 20-year-old CEO who launched a company in high school to solve Gen Z's entry-level job crisis
By Jake AngeloMay 16, 2026
13 hours ago
‘You’re not a hero, you’re a liability’: Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary warns Gen Z founders to stop glorifying hustle culture
Future of Work
‘You’re not a hero, you’re a liability’: Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary warns Gen Z founders to stop glorifying hustle culture
By Jacqueline MunisMay 16, 2026
9 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.