Creating a place to be
Occupiers are prioritising making the office ‘a place to be.’ They’re offering better amenities and altering space to make it more attractive to staff, amid overall attempts to encourage more employees to return to the workplace. Just 1% of business decision-makers – down from 3% in 2025 – say their organisation is not incentivising employees to work from their office in any way.
As part of this, 24% of occupiers in this year’s survey say they are proactively considering how to accommodate different working patterns, an increase from 20% in 2025. This is one of the most frequently cited reason for changing office strategy in this year’s study.
Overall, the research reveals a split emerging in the UK workforce in terms of attending the office.
Almost one in five (19%) businesses mandate five days a week in the office, while noting that slightly more people (20%) actually attend for the full working week.
But it’s also true that many organisations take a more relaxed attitude to employees being present at premises: 23% of occupiers state they require people to attend just two days per week and a further 18% stipulate only one day in the office.
Our 2025 research indicated a strong expectation that office attendance would increase, with 74% of business decision-makers predicting a rise. However, this year’s results have remained stable, with two days’ attendance most common amongst staff.
While the data doesn’t point to a broad return to higher attendance, it does give us interesting insight into how and why employees are attending the office.
Employees are now attending the workplace slightly more than their mandated requirements, with businesses asking staff to attend the workplace for an average of 3.09 days each week, while reporting they actually attend for 3.21 days per week. This represents a meaningful behavioural shift away from enforced, policy-driven attendance towards more intentional engagement.
The fact that employees are voluntarily choosing to work from an office suggests workspaces are beginning to earn the commute. Employers must recognise the importance of investing in office quality and experience, knowing that when offices deliver clear value, employees are willing to engage.
When it comes to monitoring office attendance, 80% say they are currently monitoring on an individual basis or considering doing. This suggests that employers are becoming far more intentional about understanding how their space is being used, and are willing to track attendance at a granular level to inform future workplace decisions.
Office enthusiasm
Creating a ‘Destination Office’ is one approach to accommodating all working patterns. The good news is that occupiers see evidence that employees are enthusiastic about being in the office.
They make this observation for a number of reasons, including:
of occupiers believe employees want closer collaboration with colleagues
of occupiers say people feel the office is a better working environment than home
of occupiers state their teams want to take advantage of social activities.
Designing a space where brand, culture, and people development come together, so that people value spending time there, is vital. This can be the difference between attracting and retaining the best talent or struggling to engage the workforce.
Overall, a large majority – 78% – of occupiers are either incorporating workplace design into their wider employee engagement strategy or are considering doing so.
How, if at all, are you incentivising employees to work from your office?
Offering flexible working hours
Introducing better amenities generally
Introducing flexible office days
Making alterations so offices are more attractive
Creating a programme of social events
Offices as brand assets
More occupiers are treating their workspace as a core expression of brand, and this is driving more intentional decisions about office design and investment.
Almost a quarter (24%) are driven by the potential added value for their brand when making overall improvements to their space. This is a leap from 16% who said the same in 2025.
As they make improvements, the vast majority of respondents (90%) state their HR teams have at least some say in working space strategy decisions, ranging from providing suggestions to making final calls. This speaks to a widespread, proactive business decision to involve HR in strategy as the arbiter of employee requirements. HR is an integral function in understanding office configuration, and how it drives both employee engagement and overall commercial goals.
