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AI job displacement risks diverge from office demand as AI hiring grows
JLL’s research says overall US tech employment fell 1.5% in early 2026, but office leasing demand is rebounding in tech-using sectors.
JLL, in research conducted with MIT’s Sloan School of Management and its Center for Real Estate, says AI is driving a widening gap across US markets, industries, and property asset classes based on whether workforces and real estate can adapt to change.
The report finds that even though overall US tech employment declined by 1.5% in early 2026, office leasing demand in sectors tied to office use continues to rebound, pointing to a decoupling of AI growth from broader tech labor trends.
JLL says some markets show outsized contributions from AI companies to leasing, citing San Francisco where nearly 30% of total leasing since 2025 has come from AI firms.
The study argues that a market’s capacity to adapt, capitalize on new opportunities, and redeploy talent matters more for real estate performance than AI exposure risk alone, and it quotes JLL’s Alexandra Bryant saying winning strategies should focus on readiness to take advantage of AI opportunities rather than only job loss headlines.