SEATTLE, WA – Seattle’s office vacancy rates at the end of 2025 reached record highs – some 35% – but the rate of increase is slowing, suggesting the market is stabilizing.
Based on a recent report by the real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, the downtown Seattle office market experienced a record high overall vacancy rate of 35.6% in the fourth quarter of 2025, a 3.3% increase from 2024.
According to the report, the increase in vacancy rates is driven by tech company cutbacks and high-quality Class A buildings losing tenants, leading to 2.3 million square feet of space being vacated in 2025.
The Seattle tech sector is experiencing a significant wave of layoffs, driven by companies restructuring for Artificial Intelligence, or AI, marking a shift from pandemic-era hiring sprees to a focus on automation and efficiency.
Earlier this year, Seattle-based Amazon announced it is laying off 1,600 corporate employees globally, including some 2,200 in the Seattle area. Expedia Group, the Seattle-based travel technology company, plans to lay off 162 employees. Meta – the multinational technology conglomerate and parent company of Facebook – intends to lay off 331 employees across the greater Seattle area…