People in the office sector are either getting really nervous or should be considering it.

"We know writ large looking at all kinds of occupiers, occupancy across the country seems to be around 40%, 45%," Darin Buelow, princi-pal and global lead for location strategy at Deloitte Consulting, says. "If we don't have a recession, I would not expect that number to move up over the mid-40s very much." If there is a recession and significant layoffs follow, maybe employees will be worried enough about losing a job that they agree to come in regularly.

But unemployment at the end of 2022 stood at well under 4%, meaning people working in offices might well have other options. Then the question becomes how long companies will retain space they don't seem to need. As leases come up for renewal, tenants will start making hard decisions.