JLL Report: Office Workstation Area May Further Shrink, Companies Shift to Shared and Compact Designs
Global commercial real estate services firm JLL released the '2025 Global Space Planning Benchmark Report', indicating that although most companies strengthened return-to-office requirements at the beginning of the year, office space configurations are trending toward compactness: the target area per person has been reduced to 132 square feet, the proportion of shared workstations has increased, and the standard sizes of enclosed offices and open-plan workstations have simultaneously shrunk to balance costs and hybrid work demands.
Key Takeaways
- Even though manybosses doubled down on return-to-office policies earlier this year, employers also appear ready to shrink the personal office space allocated to workers who do show up, according to a recent survey by JLL, a global commercial real estate and investment management firm.
- According to JLL's 2025 Global Space Planning Benchmark Report, companies are working to tighten so-called density metrics—the amount of space allocated per person—from 165 square feet per person to132 square feet per person, and to increase desk-sharing ratios from the current 1.3 desks per person to 1.1 people per desk. Adopting a 100% "free seating" model—meaning no assigned desks at all—could help companies cut costs further, the report said.
- "Most organizations (78%) say they have established clear standards for space functionality to guide workplace planning, and are actively pushing for smaller, more standardized sizes for offices and workstations," the report noted.
In-Depth Insights
Since the pandemic accelerated remote and hybrid work more than five years ago, employers—along with their CFOs, real estate, and HR departments—have faced many new challenges around work policies andhow to budget for the right office layout.
Technological developments and shifting cultural norms have profoundly changed where and how people work. The report shows that global office space utilization—the percentage of time a single workstation is occupied during the workday—has risen slightly to 54% so far this year, up from 49% in the same period last year, but still below the pre-pandemic level of 61% in 2019.
According to the JLL report, based on a survey of 99 organizations that collectively hold more than 745 million square feet of global commercial real estate, 18% of employees currently work fully remotely, 15% come into the office five days a week, while the majority (67%) work in a hybrid model, coming in one to four days a week. Companies are still seeking to adjust their office spaces to accommodate diverse work options.
To adapt to this fluid office environment and control costs, many companies are turning to space sharing. Nearly one-fifth (17%) of respondents said they are reducing dedicated space for enclosed offices, while only 3% said they are increasing it; meanwhile, 13% said they are shrinking open-plan assigned desks, while only 3% are adding such desks.
At the same time, standard sizes for offices and open-plan workstations also appear to be shrinking. About 65% of companies said their goal is to keep the average size of enclosed offices at 125 square feet or less, a proportion lower than the current typical office size of 58% of companies. Additionally, 78% of companies aim to keep workstation sizes under 50 square feet, even though 32% of respondents currently have average workstation sizes larger than this standard.
Many companies are also cutting back on front reception areas, waiting areas, file and storage spaces, and copy/print zones. In their place, they are adding spaces for focused work and privacy, including phone booths, lockers, and small meeting rooms.
"While maximizing space utilization remains a priority... organizations are recognizing the dual role of the office in a hybrid environment—both as a collaboration hub and as a focused workspace that remains essential for most employees," the report said.