Office Attendance Surges Year-on-Year, According to New CBRE Research

• Utilization rates of 41-80% increased in 2024, with the largest companies achieving the best results 
• Smaller companies are seeing higher levels of four-to-five-day attendance 
• Further consolidation to come, but business growth is driving portfolio expansion plans

A pan-European survey by CBRE, the world leader in the field of commercial real estate services, confirms that the long-term effort of not only domestic companies to attract employees back to their offices was successful in the last year. The results of the survey show that the share of companies reporting an average space utilization between 41 and 80% has increased significantly. Specifically, it is 61% of companies, while last year it was less than half (48%). At the same time, the share of companies that use their offices in a more limited capacity has decreased. Only a third now use them at 40% or less, compared to almost half of the companies surveyed last year.

Simon Orr, Head of the Office Sector at CBRE for the Czech Republic, comments: “The results of our survey show that offices are coming back to life. While many see current usage levels as stable, 30% of companies expect further growth. The hybrid way of working has become a common practice, but it remains a challenge to align the long-term expectations of employers with the ideas of their employees."

In a year-on-year comparison, large companies with 5,000 or more employees achieved the greatest success. Almost two-thirds of them report the utilization of their premises to at least 41%, which is caused not only by natural development, but also by the growing number of companies that require the physical presence of people at the workplace. The CBRE survey shows that more than three-quarters of companies (76%) have some form of workplace attendance regulation in place, with 40% actually making it mandatory. At the same time, 17% of companies leave this decision to individual teams and their managers, so it is not widespread.

Although smaller companies show an overall lower level of utilization of their premises, individual indicators related to employee attendance are also improving. For companies with fewer than 5,000 employees, there was an 18% increase in the group of people who are present at the workplace four to five days a week. This trend is even more pronounced in companies with fewer than 1,000 employees, where 31% of people go to work with such frequency. As for individual days, Mondays and especially Fridays still have the lowest attendance rate.

“The proportion of employees who regularly go to the office three or more days a week has increased to 43%, compared to 37% last year. This indicator is therefore a clear confirmation that the current higher rate of space utilization is a consequence of more people in the workplace, rather than a shrinking of the office portfolio on the part of companies," explains Helena Hemrová, Head of the Office Advisory & Transaction Services at CBRE.

As for purely Czech conditions, Simon Orr adds: "Due to the shorter commute to work, Prague was not nearly as negatively affected by the choice of employees to work from home as in other European capitals. Notwithstanding this the use of Prague offices is again on an upward trend. People are mainly motivated by the social aspects of working from the office and the possibility of collaboration. At the same time, many employees realize that too much work from home can have negative effects on well-being and harm their career growth."

Despite the positive indicators mentioned above, there are companies that are considering shrinking their portfolios. More than half of those surveyed (57% of companies) are planning to reduce the size of their offices in Europe over the next three years, which is most probably related to having an excess of space, especially among large companies, and the wish to reduce operating costs. However, this approach is far from universal. 17% of companies plan to maintain their current volume of leased space and 24% intend to expand. Of this group, almost three quarters (74% of respondents) state that the main reason is the expected development of their business. There is also a positive outlook in the Czech Republic, where the technology sector and flexi and serviced offices are thriving, driving local demand and ensuring that the vacancy rate in Prague remains low. In general, office buildings on the outskirts of cities are at greater risk of reducing occupancy than locations in the center with rich civic amenities.

Most companies looking to downsize their portfolio intend to use the expiration of their current lease to do so. However, 58% of respondents are willing to extend their current contract if it continues to meet their requirements. The trend is related to the increasing willingness of property owners to negotiate, while offering more flexibility to tenants.

"In recent years, landlords have encountered the fact that tenants are demanding even higher-quality offices. If they manage to find a suitable solution for both parties before the lease expires, they can compete with newly completed office buildings," says Simon Orr and concludes: "In any case, the importance of offices remains indisputable. They are a showcase for brands and their prestige, a tool for attracting talent and increasing productivity, as well as a platform for strengthening corporate culture and collaboration among employees.”

More about the CBRE Survey

The "European Office Occupier Sentiment Survey" was conducted in April and May of this year, while ascertaining the opinions of more than 120 companies across Europe, including the Czech Republic.