A System Under Strain

The workplace is undergoing a sustained change. Hybrid work, once a response to crisis, is now common among employees blending in-office and remote days based on team dynamics, leadership expectations, and individual roles.

This variability strains systems built on predictability. While the workforce has largely adapted to hybrid work, the workplace itself is still catching up—constrained by legacy systems and the slower-moving nature of physical real estate.

At the same time, organizations are reducing their real estate footprints, aiming to cut costs and reflect lower daily occupancy, as a direct response to inflation, margin constraints, and portfolio inefficiencies but this shift brings with it complexity. The question is no longer just “How much space do we need?” but “How do we manage that space when usage is inconsistent, personalized, and purpose-driven?”

Recent data from Savills highlights that leading corporations among the Forbes Top 200 are increasingly mandating structured return-to-office policies, reflecting a clear trend towards re-establishing regular office attendance. Hybrid attendance patterns typically involve two to three days per week in the office, underscoring the need for workplace designs which accommodate fluctuating attendance effectively. For businesses which reduced space in response to home working but are now bringing employees back 2-4 days per week, effective space planning and densification strategies are particularly important.

Complementing these trends, physical workplaces will evolve into more flexible, drop-in, and agile environments featuring multipurpose spaces adaptable to diverse workstyles and personas.

Out with the Old

The traditional approach to occupancy planning was straightforward—each employee had an assigned desk, assuming regular daily attendance, capacity matched headcount, and workspace design was static and predictable. Hybrid working has shattered these assumptions.

The era of “clock-in, clock-out” metrics and square footage per person measurements has ended. Instead, businesses are considering more outcome-based evaluations emphasizing productivity, effectiveness, wellness, creativity, and results. Organizations which navigate this shift successfully will retain top talent and secure sustainable long-term success.

The Need for Dynamic, Experience-Led Metrics

Static desk counts and square meter analyses struggle to reflect daily attendance fluctuations, team-specific behaviors, and diverse employee preferences, so traditional occupancy metrics no longer capture hybrid work complexities.

Without new frameworks, organizations risk space underutilization, employee frustration, and unnecessary costs. Rigid metrics miss the nuances of staggered attendance patterns, uneven team dynamics, and varying workspace preferences.

Rather than focusing solely on “how many desks are available,” metrics must answer:

• How effectively does the workplace support varied work styles?
• Does the space provide the appropriate balance of collaboration, focus, and social interaction?
• Are employees satisfied with their ability to navigate and utilize the workplace effectively?
• Can we effectively manage peak and off-peak demands without excess or shortage?

Dynamic Performance in a Static System

As hybrid models mature, dynamic performance evaluation becomes critical. Organizations must continuously adapt policies, technologies, and workflows to reflect actual use patterns and changing employee needs. The challenge is to connect operational data such as peak usage or desk booking trends, with outcomes including employee satisfaction, productivity, and collaboration frequency.

However, this ambition often clashes with the static nature of the built environment. Real estate portfolios constrained by leases, legacy fit-outs, and long decision cycles, struggle to respond to near-term shifts in work patterns. The pace of change in employee behavior and technology often outpaces the capacity of physical infrastructure to keep up.

To close this gap, organizations must invest in modular, flexible configurations and scalable systems that allow for iterative change. Data must inform not just design decisions, but also occupancy strategies, scheduling practices, and governance models. Flexible environments require dynamic performance management.

Regional and Cultural Nuances

Workplace strategies must acknowledge regional and cultural differences. What suits teams in North America may differ from needs in Asia-Pacific or Europe. Regional tailoring ensures cultural alignment, acceptance, and effective implementation of hybrid strategies globally. These differences also mean that measurement approaches must remain flexible. Metrics must account for attendance but must also aspire to measure the quality and frequency of interaction, cross-team collaboration, and preferred working styles. What works in one region may not scale to another, underscoring the need for adaptive frameworks that reflect localized employee behavior and operational context.

Technology Integration

Technology as a Strategic Enabler

More advanced organizations are deploying platforms that connect occupancy data, desk booking patterns, and employee feedback across departments. These systems are increasingly cloud-based, enabling faster deployment, real-time access across regions, and seamless integration with existing digital workplace tools. This shift away from legacy infrastructure supports dynamic planning and scalability as workplace demands evolve.

While predictive analytics are already in use, the role of AI in workplace strategy remains largely aspiring—but its potential for scenario modeling, demand forecasting, and real-time adjustment is gaining momentum as tools mature and data ecosystems become more robust. Copilot is the best positioned tool to take advantage of this change.

These behavioral insights help organizations move beyond efficiency to effectiveness, ensuring workplace strategies are grounded in actual patterns of use and employee needs. The result is a more responsive, user-centric environment.

Tech Insight: Software Over Sensors

Microsoft Places demonstrates a strategic pivot in workplace analytics: integrating behavioral data from everyday Microsoft tools (like calendars and Teams) to monitor occupancy in real time. This reduces the need for additional hardware, accelerates implementation, and supports continuous optimization across space, scheduling, and user experience.

Financial Considerations

Hybrid models change the nature of CRE ROI. The focus shifts from pure cost-per-square-meter, something which requires a different methodology from the finance teams and should encompass further considerations including:

• Real estate savings achievable through portfolio consolidation, but these must be balanced with investments in adaptable layouts, smart tech, and change programs.
• Capital allocated toward flexible fit-outs, tech platforms, and digital service layers.
• More granular data on actual usage in order to right-size leases, assign costs and guide capital projects.

Modern Workplace Metrics: A Snapshot

Metrics for the Modern Workplace

Some examples of a more dynamic and human-centered toolkit, include:

• Daily attendance variability by team and function
• Utilization by activity type and setting
• Frequency of in-person collaboration
• Purpose-based visit analysis (e.g. collaboration, focus work, mentoring)
• Scenario modeling for peak occupancy vs. baseline demand
• Changes in employee engagement following workplace adjustments
• Comparison of bookings vs. actual usage to detect no-show trends
• Integration of workspace experience data with measurements of collaboration

These metrics reflect a growing emphasis on capturing not just how much space is used, but how well it performs, who it serves, and what outcomes it delivers. This transition supports more adaptive, purpose-aligned, and responsive workplace strategies.

Further reading:
Global Occupier Services

Contact us:
Matthew Fitzgerald