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The age of mostly assigned desks in office environments has waned, with the percentage of companies opting for assigned seating declining from 83% to 55% in 2024, according to CBRE workplace project benchmarking data.
In contrast, hybrid and desk-sharing models are gaining acceptance, increasing from 12% to 36%, reflecting a growing preference for flexibility and activity-based work environments, the firm says in a March 25 report on effective spaces as part of a series on global workplace and occupancy insights.
However, a significant disconnect between organizational perceptions of workplace strategy and the reality of their office spaces still exists, CBRE says. Many organizations are clinging to outdated models and failing to prioritize activity-based and collaborative environments that are crucial for a hybrid workforce, the firm says.
Higher density
The employee-to-seat ratio has been rising sharply since 2021, and now more than 60% of organizations report having a target sharing ratio at or above 1.5 employees per desk, CBRE says – and the amount of individual spaces has decreased from 51% in 2021 to 40% in 2024.
Workstations between 35 and 49 square feet have become the standard, now constituting 64% of workspaces. This contrasts with a decrease in larger private offices, which declined in popularity from 16% to just 4%, “indicating a significant realignment in space utilization and leadership preferences,” CBRE says.
As organizations work to increase the amount of collaboration and teamwork-oriented spaces, the office has also “begun a renaissance, fueled by a surge in employee engagement, networking and socialization,” CBRE says, noting “we are witnessing the emergence of vibrant, modern workspaces.”
Despite the decline of individual offices and increased importance of open, collaborative spaces, employees still prefer to meet in enclosed spaces, with enclosed meeting room use more than double that of open areas, says CBRE, citing data from the XY Sense Q2 2024 Workplace Utilization Index. This is likely due to employee desire for visual and audio privacy, with use of private focus areas 21% higher than open workstations, “reflecting a growing need for quiet zones in the office,” CBRE says.
“In the overall open-office world, quiet spaces are not something we have done generally very well,” Alana Dunoff, strategic facility planning consultant and adjunct professor at Temple University, said while speaking at IFMA’s World Workplace conference in October. “We like [closed spaces] to take a phone call, to just think for a minute.”