Stuttgart, Germany, October 19, 2026. Many offices stood empty for months during the Covid pandemic. Within a very short period of time, remote work went from being an exception to the norm. However, the trend has changed over the last six years: people are gradually coming back to the office. This is a key finding of Drees & Sommer’s Workspace Benchmark Report 2026-27. The largest group of those surveyed reported office occupancy rates between 61 and 70 percent. In the years 2023-24, the percentage was between 30 and 40 percent. Office attendance is increasing. Employees are now spending two to three days a week on average in the office. This raises a new question for companies: how should they design work environments that employees choose to use and that offer added value compared to working from home? Drees & Sommer’s report reveals current developments and key figures. In addition, it provides a holistic picture of work environments along the dimensions of people, office space, technology and transformation competence, going beyond classical market research. More than 200 people from 17 sectors participated in this trend study.
The Workspace Benchmark Report 2026-27 is the fourth research survey on work environments published by Drees & Sommer. The new findings show that, compared to the 2023-24 study, the occupancy level has almost doubled and is at around 70 percent now. The real estate industry posts the highest figures when compared to other sectors. More than half of the respondents indicate that space occupancy is between 61 and 80 percent.
Remote working nevertheless remains an integral part of workplace reality, as the current study reveals. For 69 percent of the respondents, working from home two or three days a week is part of their work routine. People who can work remotely for up to four days generally take advantage of this option. But it is a different picture if they have complete freedom of choice: of those who are allowed to work from home five days a week, the largest group works from home only three days a week. So, employees are going into the office voluntarily. They come together for meetings and participate in workshops, jointly work on projects and exchange views with colleagues. What is required are spaces for teamwork, phone calls, brief coordination and spontaneous conversation.Sven Mylius, Associate Partner and expert for New Work design at Drees & Sommer comments: “People now no longer come to the office to do their work without being disturbed. They come because there is a specific reason and the user experience is compelling. The function of offices has changed: it is increasingly becoming a hub for socializing and collaborative work. And it also remains an important anchor point for employees.”
Attractive Offices Are More Appealing to People
The extent to which office space is utilized also depends on how attractive it is to staff. Offices rated as very attractive have an average occupancy rate of 63 percent, whilst less attractive spaces are occupied by 48 percent. Respondents also know the reason for this. They want work environments that provide the right space for each task, such as retreat rooms for focusing on a topic, areas for creative collaboration and places for an informal exchange of views. Media technology ranks high on the list as well. “Attractiveness depends on more than just the design. Modern work environments need to be functional and technically reliable. They should offer real added value to employees. If these factors are fulfilled, spaces will fill up,“ explains Sven Mylius. In total, around 72 percent of those surveyed for the trend report think their office is attractive or very attractive.
Also in the case of media technology, the key factor is how well companies equip their spaces. When video equipment is available in no more than a quarter of meeting rooms, only 39 percent of respondents are satisfied with it. The percentage rises to 75 percent if at least three out of four rooms are equipped with video conferencing technology. Each minute counts: a room should be ready for use within 30 seconds. Who noticeably shortens the waiting time before the start of meetings, may save several thousands of euros a day, according to the study.
Leadership Transforms Spaces into Work Environments
Another major finding of the Workspace Benchmark Report is that new spaces alone do not make a lot of difference. 92 percent of the survey participants see managers as vital for the success of new work environments. Almost 80 percent believe that the work environment has a significant impact on corporate culture, and in particular on cross-departmental collaboration. Employees expect their supervisors to set clear targets and to lead by example in new ways of working. “New work environments do not emerge from floor plans or new furniture. It is crucial that managers set an example by putting the desired behaviors into practice and give employees orientation. It is only then that spaces can reach their full potential – in terms of collaboration, culture and innovation,” the New Work expert points out.
Less Space, More Quality
Although more people are returning to the office overall, 54 percent of those surveyed believe that the area per workspace will decrease. Only 11 percent expect the demand for space to increase. The trend towards reduced office space is particularly strong in the real estate industry. 68 percent of the respondents from this sector think that their company will cut office space. Desk-sharing arrangements continue to be an important tool for optimizing office spaces. 75 percent of the survey participants are sharing desks in some or all areas. Companies who have shared-workstation solutions, mostly intend to expand this option: more than half of those surveyed expect their company to place even greater emphasis on this in the future. The trend study still finds that quality is more important than square meters.
Data and Technology: Lots of Potential, but Little Progress
Data is the main requirement in order to understand how individual areas are actually used. 63 percent of the respondents say that their company uses space analytics. This data-based analysis tool assesses the use of space and helps to optimize occupancy rates. Large companies obviously have an advantage: 85 percent of the firms with a workforce of 5,000-plus people are using data-driven office space analysis, whilst only 38 percent of the enterprises with less than 50 staff members avail themselves of this instrument. However, in most cases the analysis is limited to the reservation system. Sensors or motion analysis have so far only been used to a limited extent for the purpose of actively controlling occupancy levels. Sven Mylius says: “By systematically analyzing and including usage data in decision-making, office space, investments and job offers can be designed more effectively. This saves costs and also highlights user needs.“
In a nutshell: nowadays, successful work environments do much more than simply provide space. They enable collaboration, provide orientation, support the corporate culture, and they develop based on the analysis of collected data. Workplace strategies require an integrated approach. So, different dimensions of work environments must be analyzed. The focus needs to be on the users.
About the Benchmark Report 2026:
207 managers from different sectors participated in an anonymous survey carried out in the period from May to June 2026. The study was organized by Stuttgart-based Drees & Sommer, a consulting company that specializes in construction, real estate and infrastructure. 35 percent of the respondents work in enterprises with 5,000-plus employees, 21 percent in companies with a workforce of between 1,000 and 4,999 people, and roughly 44 percent represent small and mid-sized firms. Seventy percent of those surveyed were from the real estate industry, the educational sector, public administration and the world of finance.
The full version of the Workspace Benchmark Report (in German) can be downloaded here: Download