Office attendance going one way
How are businesses adapting?
As businesses are considering workforce size when deciding whether to adapt current space or move elsewhere, we decided to delve a little deeper into working trends. And it looks like employee attendance in the office is going one way: up!
72%2 of businesses said the number of employees now working in the office had increased over the last 12 months and 74%2 expect those numbers to continue to increase in the next 12-18 months. This compares to 6%3 who said numbers had decreased or expected would decrease.
This shows a massive shift on previous years, with both employers and employees now appearing to appreciate the benefits of office working. This trend is particularly noticeable in London where 81%2 of businesses expect to see more people back in the office, along with 71%2 in the Northwest.
2 Combining answer options “Significantly increase(d)” and “Somewhat increase(d)”.
3 Combining answer options “Somewhat decrease(d)” and “Significantly decrease(d)”.
Has the number of employees working from your office increased or decreased over the last 12 months, and are numbers likely to increase/decrease in the next 12 -18 months?
Regarding the number of days employees are required to be in the office, 45% of businesses said they required employees to be in the office three or four days a week, with a significant 35% of businesses requiring five days.
In terms of actual office attendance, the figures align between required and actual days in the office, with 47% of businesses saying employees are in three or four days with 31% saying their employees now come in five days a week.
This is a much bigger vote for full time working in the office than we have seen in previous surveys since the pandemic.
Getting more employees into the workplace more often may reflect employers wanting to use their space to the maximum, thereby reaping greater value from their offices including the social capital of their organisation.
80% of businesses said they were either currently monitoring office attendance on an individual basis or considering doing so in future. This is an indication that businesses are keen to have stronger data on office attendance, which would help for future space planning purposes. Of those, 85% said they would be using software to do so.
The Covid days of total remote working seem to be a thing of the past.
Getting more employees into the workplace more often may reflect employers wanting to use their space to the maximum, thereby reaping greater value from their offices including the social capital of their organisation.
80% of businesses said they were either currently monitoring office attendance on an individual basis or considering doing so in future. This is an indication that businesses are keen to have stronger data on office attendance, which would help for future space planning purposes. Of those, 85% said they would be using software to do so.
The Covid days of total remote working seem to be a thing of the past.
On a typical week, how many days are your employees required to be in the office, and how many days do they actually come in?
This trend of more people being in the office obviously has property implications. When asked that if all their employees came back into the office to work, 53%1 of employers said they would not be able to accommodate them. Only 34%4 of businesses said they could.
No wonder businesses are considering the type and amount of space required going forward.
[4] Combining answer options “Strongly disagree” and “Somewhat disagree”.