Dive Brief:
- While hybrid workplace models will remain, office attendance is expected to increase as companies and employees align their expectations for on-site work, according to CBRE’s 2025 Outlook for Office Attendance. Just over half of corporate leaders said they would like to boost attendance from current levels, the firm says in its report detailing the findings of a fourth quarter occupier survey of 198 corporate real estate professionals conducted in concert with CoreNet Global.
- Although many occupiers are accepting current attendance rates as the new normal, 39% are working to align attendance levels with current policy, while 36% are looking to move toward a less hybrid workplace policy, CBRE says.
- Eighty-three percent of respondents pointed to a lack of mandated policies or their enforcement as the biggest barrier to increased office attendance. But “more is needed than just policies, mandates and enforcement,” CBRE’s report states, noting strategies that include corporate leader role modeling, capital investments in technology and increased or improved event and social programming.
Dive Insight:
Although more than 50% of respondents to CBRE’s 2024 Americas Office Occupier Sentiment Survey said their employers had attendance mandates, only 17% reported that these mandates were being actively enforced, CBRE says. A lack of attendance policies or mandates was listed as a barrier to increasing office attendance by 83% of survey respondents, followed by commute time for employees at 57%, and employee norms — or when most employees’ office attendance behavior goes against policy — at 47%.
Strategies many companies are implementing to increase workplace effectiveness include redesigning workplaces to reflect new working patterns and focusing on amenities for their employees despite budget constraints, according to its occupancy report released December. Forty-five percent of respondents said they are deploying change management strategies to drive higher office attendance. Among those respondents, 66% identified company leaders acting as role models as a top strategy, while 56% pointed to investments in new workplace technology and another 56% emphasized manager training to align teams with attendance expectations.
Fifty-two percent of those implementing change management strategies said they are increasing or improving event and social programming, with half saying these strategies would include improved food and beverage options, according to the survey. Since current attendance levels have posed a challenge for interpersonal connections, “it’s logical that change management strategies are very people-focused,” CBRE notes.
While workplace experience plays a supporting role in driving increased on-site attendance, the office must remain effective as a business enablement tool to continue meeting company goals, CBRE says.
Some 63% of respondents said their companies are changing their workplace design to accommodate evolving work patterns, according to CBRE’s report. These strategies include adding more amenities and activity-based spaces rather than a large amount of dedicated workstations, the firm says. The survey also found that 45% of employees named upgrading services and amenities in existing buildings as a common strategy to enhance workplace experience, while 40% listed relocating to better buildings.
“Everybody is … doing what works for them [or] at least what they think works for them,” Julie Whelan, global head of occupier thought leadership at CBRE, said in an interview. “But then the question is, how does that flow into actual use of office space?”
While average occupancy has hovered around 50%, attendance on peak days — most often Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday — has increased over the past year, Whelan noted. “That means … more people are being enticed to come into the office because other people are there,” Whelan said. “And as a result of having such high occupancy on those peak days, people are thinking, ‘maybe I don't downsize as much,’ because for at least a couple days a week, my space is being used in a pretty vibrant way.”
