Another survey captures a growing sense that companies will not be scaling back their office footprints as much as feared.

A couple of days after KPMG's 2021 CEO Outlook Pulse Survey said that only 17% of respondents said they will downsize their company's footprint, the first-quarter AICPA Economic Outlook Survey says most businesses haven't planned for a reduction in their traditional brick-and-mortar office space. The AICPA survey polls CFOs, controllers and other senior-level CPAs and management accountants in business and industry.

While office landlords may applaud this shift in sentiment, it's not happening because companies are having a change of heart about remote work or optimism about the economy. Instead, according to the AICPA survey, the reasons are more likely to be that many companies are locked into long-term leases and lack escape clauses. Also. landlords have become unwilling to make additional concessions.