It’s the one-two punch no one in commercial real estate is celebrating – and for good reason. The COVID-19 pandemic and shutdowns combined with the so-called “Great Resignation” that followed have generated a number of challenges for almost all CRE sectors.

“More U.S. workers are leaving their jobs than ever before, and job openings exceed willing workers,” CBRE points out in its recent report entitled The Great Resignation’s Impact on Office Users.

REDnews talked to Jessica Morin, one of the report’s authors and CBRE’s Head of U.S. Office Research, about her team’s findings.

REDnews: In putting the report together, did you learn anything that surprised you?

Morin: While overall levels of quits increased since the pandemic, the share of office-using positions slightly decreased from 24% on average in 2018-2019 to 21% of quits at the time of the report (January 2022).

REDnews: What was the biggest takeaway for you?

Morin: The great resignation was much more impactful on the retail and hospitality sectors. Still, office-using employers, particularly those with entry-level back-office and shared service positions, also felt the impact. Those office-using sectors also saw the highest wage growth over the last three years. Quits were less prevalent in higher-paying positions, like technology and financial services jobs, which are more likely to support remote working. Click to read more at www.rednews.com.