Workers are still only coming into the office an average of 1.75 days a week, a study of 119 workplaces in 22 countries by AWA, a global workplace consultancy, has found.
The responses, collated in April-May 2023 and representing organisations employing close to 155,000 people, saw a slight increase on AWA’s study a year ago, indicating that office attendance has reached a steady state, despite some employers trying to force staff back into the workplace.
AWA’s third Hybrid Index study has found that organisations are responding to the shift to hybrid working by improving their desk use in offices and reducing their real estate needs. 37% of employers said they were planning to reduce their office space through disposals, subletting or consolidation.
This is a result of the improved desk utilisation as organisations adapt to the new reality of hybrid working, with the percentage of desks in use on average rising to 48% from 33% a year ago.
However, AWA has found that three years since working practices changed at the start of the pandemic, 46% of offices do not have a hybrid working policy.
Where employers mandate people to come into the office a specific number of days per week, the employees come in significantly fewer days, indicating that ordering staff back doesn’t work.
Andrew Mawson, founder of AWA, said: 'While the figures show a slight increase in office attendance, overall we think we may have reached a steady state on hybrid working. Savvy employers are using the new reality to become more efficient, improving desk use and reducing their real estate needs.
'We expect this to result in a gradual build-up of empty office space over the next 5-10 years as leases expire, with a resultant downward pressure on rents and asset values.'
