Tampa Bay's shrinking work force needed fewer cubicles in 2009. Office vacancy in Pinellas and Hillsborough surged to 20.6 percent by the end of 2009, up from 17.1 percent at the end of 2008.

The report by real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield said an additional 1.4 million square feet of offices lay vacant by year's end.

Most of the damage occurred in the region's largest business district, Tampa's West Shore, which accounted for more than half of that idle square footage. West Shore's vacancy rate rose from 12.6 percent to 21.8 percent.

Nearly a quarter of the offices in St. Petersburg's Gateway district off Interstate 275 had no tenants at year's end.

Of the larger office districts, only Tampa's Interstate 75 lured more tenants than it lost.