Ghost towns in cubicle land

FORTUNE -- Look around at work and you might notice that, while your own office or cubicle has stayed the same or shrunk, there are more conference rooms, storage areas, and -- yes -- empty work stations.

If so, your place of business is part of a nationwide trend, according to a new study by a Houston-based commercial real estate trade group called the International Facility Management Association.

As the economy continues its long snooze, "office space is not as densely packed as it used to be," the report notes. Vacancy rates have risen by about 5% in almost every industry. (The only exception: The federal government.) Companies now average 295 square feet of usable space per employee. Yet most office workers are assigned between 75 and 95 square feet. Middle managers get, on average, 120 square feet.

What's taking up the rest of the space? Collaborative work areas and amenities like day care centers and gyms account for much of it, while layoffs and stagnant hiring, the study's authors add, have turned many offices into "ghost towns, with empty cubicles becoming increasingly common."

If projected demand for office space is a leading indicator, the IMFA report suggests the economy isn't out of the woods yet: less than one-third (30%) of the employers surveyed expect to need more office space in the years ahead.