{"id":1004487805,"date":"2020-10-28T02:53:51","date_gmt":"2020-10-28T10:53:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004487805"},"modified":"2021-05-15T09:29:43","modified_gmt":"2021-05-15T17:29:43","slug":"how-the-shrinking-middle-is-impacting-the-office-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/how-the-shrinking-middle-is-impacting-the-office-market\/","title":{"rendered":"How the \u2018Shrinking Middle\u2019 Is Impacting the Office Market"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

A look at how middle ranking jobs are shrinking at CoreNet Global’s Virtual Summit Oct. 27.<\/p><\/div>\n

White collar office jobs have had a profound impact on the U.S. office market over the last 50 years, driving millions of square feet of commercial real estate development. It\u2019s been driven by a surge in service sector employment, which has led to office development and the revitalization of downtown environments.  <\/p>\n

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READ ALSO: <\/strong>Amid Office Changes, Workplace Strategies Are Evolving<\/a><\/p>\n

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But as the sector has grown, more jobs have been added in the highest skilled and the lowest skilled categories, leading to a squeeze in middle-ranking jobs like office and administrative support positions. At CoreNet Global\u2019s Virtual Summit Oct. 27, CBRE Global Chief Economist & Head of Americas Research Richard Barkham delved into why the middle is shrinking and how the trend is changing and will continue to change the workplace.<\/p>\n

To understand why job growth has stalled in the middle, Barkham pointed to some key factors:<\/p>\n

Big tech<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The tech sector\u2019s dramatic growth over the last 15 years has created a huge demand for highly skilled workers. According to Barkham\u2019s research, half of the top 20 firms in the world with the highest spending on research and development are based in the U.S. To put it another way, the U.S. has 4 percent of the world\u2019s population, but 50 percent of the firms with the highest spending on R&D.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S. tech sector is now worth more than all European stocks,\u201d said Barkham. In August, Bank of America said in a note to clients that U.S. tech stocks were worth $9.1 trillion, surpassing all European stocks, which were worth $8.9 trillion.<\/p>\n

The rise of automation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

According to the World Economic Forum\u2019s 2020 Future of Jobs Survey, the time spent on current tasks at work by humans and machines will be equal by 2025. Among business leaders surveyed by WEF, just over 80 percent reported that they are accelerating the automation of their work processes and expanding their use of remote work. Additionally, 50 percent of respondents also indicated that they are set to accelerate the automation of jobs in their companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know it\u2019s happening but when you look closely at the data, it\u2019s even more impressive, even more considerable than you first think,\u201d said Barkham. \u201cEven coordinating, developing and managing will increasingly be done by machines as we move through the next decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

Job outsourcing<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Many middle-ranking jobs are being outsourced to other countries, like India, which has experienced an explosive job growth since 2000. According to data from CBRE, more than 250 million square feet of office space was leased in the country between 2015 and 2019, 60 percent of which was from global occupiers across various tenant sectors.<\/p>\n

\u201cA key part of the shrinking middle argument is that jobs are being outsourced to lower cost locations,\u201d said Barkham. While some still exist in the U.S., they are often moved to lower cost areas of the country like suburban Atlanta, Ga.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo company can afford to ignore it,” said Barkham of outsourcing. “It brings profound benefits to cost conscious companies.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Implications for the future<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Richard Barkham on the evolving workplace at CoreNet Global’s Virtual Summit Oct. 27.<\/p><\/div>\n

All these factors have led to the nature of work changing. Workplaces are becoming more entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial, according to Barkham.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoutine doesn\u2019t exist anymore, only change,\u201d he said. \u201cHigh skill workers are responsible for finding work within and without their own organizations. Intrapreneurial means entrepreneurial within the company: Finding work, creating teams and managing complex teams within the company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barkham sees workplaces as currently in flux and moving to more team-based work. While large numbers of people are still working from home due to the pandemic, further accelerating a trend toward remote work, Barkham predicts that after a period of repricing, big cities in America will \u201ctake off again\u201d and still draw talented, highly skilled workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will thrive as high amenity collaboration hubs,\u201d he said of cities. \u201cThis is the direction we\u2019re traveling, moving away from \u2018me\u2019 space and moving toward \u2018we\u2019 space and amenity space. I don\u2019t think it stops here. I think we\u2019ve got to think about the next 10 years ahead and think how much further this can go to support really high-skilled, high-dynamic work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At CoreNet Global\u2019s Virtual Summit, Richard Barkham of CBRE explained why mid-level jobs are disappearing and how the trend is changing the workplace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":745,"featured_media":1004487811,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21781,21808,23891,21742,21747],"tags":[32789,36450,36309],"class_list":["post-1004487805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-corporate-real-estate","category-featured","category-national","category-latest","category-office","tag-cbre","tag-corenet-global","tag-richard-barkham"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow the \u2018Shrinking Middle\u2019 Is Impacting the Office Market - Commercial Property Executive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/how-the-shrinking-middle-is-impacting-the-office-market\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How the \u2018Shrinking Middle\u2019 Is Impacting the Office Market\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At CoreNet Global\u2019s Virtual Summit, Richard Barkham of CBRE explained why mid-level jobs are disappearing and how the trend is changing the workplace.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/how-the-shrinking-middle-is-impacting-the-office-market\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Property Executive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPExecutive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-28T10:53:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-15T17:29:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2020\/10\/jane-palash-A51dkNMRu9A-unsplash-e1603857418192.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Holly Dutton\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/how-the-shrinking-middle-is-impacting-the-office-market\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/how-the-shrinking-middle-is-impacting-the-office-market\/\",\"name\":\"How the \u2018Shrinking Middle\u2019 Is Impacting the Office Market - 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