What Is Office Space Utilization?

Office space utilization refers to how efficiently and effectively a workspace is used over time. In simple terms, it measures whether your office’s desks, meeting rooms, and areas are actually being used – and how often – versus just sitting empty. High utilization means the space is frequently in active use; low utilization means much of the office is idle. In an era of hybrid work and rising real estate costs, understanding space utilization has become crucial. In fact, most offices today are underused: while peak occupancy (people present) often hovers around 50–60%, actual utilization of space commonly sits below 40% – meaning companies are paying for a lot of empty desks and rooms skedda.com skedda.com . By tracking utilization, organizations can identify wasted space, right-size their real estate, and create a better workplace experience. This resource page will break down the key concepts and metrics around office space utilization. We’ll define space utilization, occupancy, and attendance (and explain how they differ), describe important utilization metrics like desk and meeting room usage, share benchmark ranges for “low,” “typical,” and “high” utilization, and answer frequently asked questions about measuring and improving space utilization. Whether you’re a general reader or a workplace professional exploring analytics solutions, you’ll find actionable insights on using occupancy data and workplace analytics to optimize your office. (And yes – we’ll also touch on how Gather Sciences supports space utilization tracking via its workplace analytics software, and why a Balanced Hybrid™ approach to hybrid work can help maximize space efficiency.) Space Utilization vs. Occupancy vs. Attendance (Key Definitions) Space Utilization: “How effectively is our space being used?” Utilization measures the percentage of time or capacity that a space is actively used for its intended purpose. It’s usually expressed as a percentage over a period. For example, if a meeting room is available 8 hours a day but only actually occupied for 4 hours, its utilization rate is 50%. Utilization captures not just whether a space can be used, but how often it actually is used over time skedda.com skedda.com . This makes it a powerful indicator of efficiency. High utilization means you’re getting value from the space; low utilization suggests the space is underused and resources may be wasted. Corporate real estate experts now consider utilization one of the most important metrics for workplace performance in the hybrid era skedda.com skedda.com . In practice, utilization data helps answer questions like: Are our desks and rooms sitting empty most of the day? Which areas are busiest, and which are ignored? Occupancy: “How many people are here (and how full is the space) right now?” Occupancy refers to the number of people physically present in a space at a given time, often compared to that space’s capacity. It’s essentially a headcount or percentage of how full the space is in the moment skedda.com skedda.com . For example, if a 100-desk office has 45 people in it today at noon, the occupancy at that moment is 45% (45/100). Occupancy is a snapshot metric – it fluctuates throughout the day as people come and go. You can talk about peak occupancy (the maximum number of people present at once) or average occupancy (the mean number over a day or week). Occupancy is very useful for monitoring attendance and capacity in real time skedda.com . It tells you if the office or a room is crowded or empty right now. However, occupancy alone doesn’t tell the whole story of efficiency – a conference room might show 100% occupancy at 10am (10 people in a 10-seat room), but if it was only used for that one hour all day, its daily utilization is low. In other words, occupancy shows how many people are in the space, but not how long or how effectively the space is used. Attendance: “How many unique people come into the office?” In workplace analytics, attendance usually refers to the count of employees (or visitors) who visit the office over a given period (e.g. per day or per week). This is slightly different from instantaneous occupancy. For instance, you might have 100 employees total, and find that 60 of them came into the office at least once this week – that’s an attendance count of 60 for the week. Attendance metrics help gauge workplace demand and usage frequency: how many people are choosing to come in, and how often? Corporate reports define “office attendance” as the total number of employees who visit the office in a given time period cbre.com . From this, companies also calculate related metrics like show-up rate (attendance divided by total workforce) and office utilization rate in the context of capacity (attendance divided by total seats) cbre.com . Attendance is especially relevant in hybrid work settings – it tells you what percentage of your employees are actually coming on-site vs. working remotely. For example, if only 50% of staff on average are coming in on a given day, that indicates how heavily (or lightly) the office is being used overall. How They Differ and Work Together: In summary, occupancy is about bodies in space at a moment, attendance is about people visiting over time, and utilization is about efficient use of space over time. Think of occupancy and attendance as measuring demand, while utilization measures effectiveness of the space in serving that demand. Occupancy/attendance data answers “how many people use the office?” Utilization data answers “how well are we using the space we have?” cbre.com . These metrics are related but not interchangeable. For instance, you might observe healthy attendance (say 60% of employees are coming in on average), and decent occupancy at peak times (certain areas feel 60-70% full at busy hours), yet poor utilization overall (those people only stay a few hours, or only certain zones are used, so many desks sit empty most of the day) skedda.com skedda.com . High occupancy doesn’t guarantee high utilization – an office can look “full” at times but still be underutilized across the week. Conversely, you could have moderate occupancy but very efficient utilization if the space available is just right for the demand. Each metric has its use: Occupancy is great for real-time space management and avoiding overcrowding; attendance trends inform long-term planning and hybrid scheduling; utilization reveals inefficiencies and optimization opportunities over time skedda.com cbre.com . Smart workplace strategies track all three to get a complete picture of how the office is performing. Key Space Utilization Metrics Understanding specific space utilization metrics can help you pinpoint where your workplace is efficient and where it’s falling short. Here are some of the key metrics and what they tell you: Desk Utilization (Workstation Usage) Desk utilization measures how much individual workstations are actually used, on average. In a traditional office with assigned seating, it tracks what percentage of desks are occupied versus sitting empty. In offices with hot desking or hoteling (where employees reserve shared desks), it tracks how many desks are reserved/used out of the total available. For example, if you have 100 desks but on an average day only 40 of them are occupied at any given time, your desk utilization is about 40%. This metric has become very important with hybrid work: many companies discovered that on any given day a large share of assigned desks aren’t being used, as employees alternate between home and office. A low desk utilization (say under 30–40%) means you have more desks than needed – a lot of real estate is tied up in empty chairs. A high desk utilization (close to 80% or more) means most desks are in use, which can be efficient but might start to feel crowded if too close to 100%. Why it matters: Tracking desk utilization helps identify opportunities to consolidate space or implement sharing strategies. For instance, if data shows a department’s assigned desks are unused 50% of the time, you might introduce a desk-sharing ratio (e.g. 2 employees per 1 desk) to improve usage. Many companies now use sensors or badge data to monitor how often each desk is actually occupied over the day spaces.cisco.com . This can reveal “ghost desks” – seats that are assigned but rarely occupied. By increasing desk sharing or switching to flexible seating, organizations like Deloitte and others have drastically reduced the number of underutilized desks and saved on real estate costs 2727coworking.com 2727coworking.com . In short, desk utilization tells you if you have the right number of desks and whether they match your workforce’s in-office patterns. Meeting Room Utilization (Booking vs. Actual Use) Meeting room utilization looks at how well conference rooms and collaboration spaces are used, beyond just how often they’re booked. A room might be reserved on the calendar, but was it actually occupied, and for how long? This metric typically compares the total time a room was actively in use versus its total available time (or versus the time it was reserved). For example, if a 8-person conference room is available 8 hours a day and it’s actually occupied for 4 hours, that’s 50% utilization for that day. Meeting rooms are notorious for inefficiencies like no-shows and under-filled meetings. Studies have found that a significant portion of meeting room bookings end up as no-shows (one source found ~30% of conference room bookings end up unused) vergesense.com , or the meeting uses a much smaller room capacity than available (e.g. only 2 people using a 8-person room – high occupancy of that room at that moment, but low effective utilization of its capacity). Thus, organizations now track not just bookings, but actual sensor-detected occupancy or check-ins for meetings. Booking vs. usage: if a room was booked 6 hours but only occupied for 2, its utilization is low (~33%) skedda.com . On the flip side, if a room is consistently booked and occupied for most of the workday, its utilization might exceed 70–80%, which is quite high. In practice, a 40–60% utilization rate for meeting rooms is considered healthy – it indicates rooms are being used frequently but also have some availability when needed envoy.com . If utilization climbs above that (e.g. your popular conference room is 75% utilized – 6 out of 8 hours booked daily), it’s a sign the room is in heavy demand and people might struggle to find space, so you may need to add more meeting areas envoy.com . Why it matters: Meeting room utilization analysis helps uncover mismatches between supply and demand of collaboration space. For instance, you might find small huddle rooms are booked solid while large boardrooms sit empty – suggesting you could split a big conference room into two smaller rooms to better accommodate how people meet skedda.com . Or if many meetings are virtual, you might repurpose some underused rooms into quiet drop-in call booths. Overall, this metric ensures your meeting room analytics go beyond simple booking counts to truly optimize space for how teams collaborate. Floor or Zone Utilization (Spatial Utilization by Area) Not all parts of the office are used equally. Floor or zone utilization metrics examine what percentage of a given area of the office is actively used. This could be measured per floor, department zone, or type of space (e.g. “focus area” vs “collaboration zone”). It typically involves looking at occupancy data for a section of the office over time. For example, if your 3rd floor has 100 seats and on average only 20 people are on that floor, that floor’s utilization is 20%. Similarly, you can measure the utilization of a wing or department area – perhaps a certain pod of desks or a specific studio space. Companies often find that some floors or zones are consistently underutilized compared to others (e.g. everyone crowds the 2nd floor near the cafe, while the 4th floor is half-empty). Why it matters: These insights help in right-sizing and reallocating space. If an entire floor is averaging, say, only 20% occupancy, you might consider consolidating teams to a smaller number of floors and subleasing or closing the excess floor to cut costs skedda.com . (Indeed, finding a 20-desk wing that’s only 20% used could justify downsizing that space, saving thousands in rent, or repurposing it for other uses skedda.com .) Zone utilization data also ties into workplace design: it can reveal which types of spaces are popular and which are avoided. For instance, you might discover that your open lounge area is always busy (high utilization), whereas a formal workspace zone nearby is empty (low utilization) – prompting you to redesign the underused zone or convert it into a different function. Many modern offices employ heatmaps or sensor dashboards to visualize zone-by-zone utilization in real time, so facility managers can see which areas are buzzing with activity and which are dormant. Essentially, floor/zone utilization metrics ensure every square foot counts by highlighting pockets of inefficiency or overuse in your layout. Office Space Utilization Benchmarks (Low, Typical, High) What is considered a “good” utilization rate for office space? The answer depends on context – office type, industry, hybrid work patterns, and even team function all influence the “right” utilization level. However, we can look at some real-world benchmarks to frame low, typical, and high utilization levels: Low Utilization: Generally, a sustained utilization below ~40% would be considered low in most scenarios. This means more than half your office is empty on average – a strong sign of underused space. In the post-pandemic hybrid world, many companies did see utilization plunge to very low levels (global office utilization averaged only ~41% in 2023 2727coworking.com ). Example: A global survey found North America’s offices in 2024 were only about 40–50% utilized on average 2727coworking.com . Low utilization rates are a concern because they indicate a lot of wasted capacity (and wasted cost) – e.g. paying rent and utilities for desks or rooms that sit idle most of the time. If your workplace utilization is in this range, it’s a prompt to investigate why (Is your workforce mostly remote? Do you have far more space than needed? Are there specific spaces nobody wants to use?) and to take action (such as downsizing or repurposing underused areas). On the flip side, a deliberately low utilization might be acceptable in certain cases – for instance, if you maintain extra space as buffer for growth or if specific low-use spaces exist for infrequent but important functions. But as a rule, <40% indicates excess capacity that could be optimized. Typical Utilization: A mid-range utilization around 50–60% is common for many organizations today. Prior to 2020, offices often aimed for roughly 60%–70% average utilization, but with hybrid work, the new norms have shifted a bit lower. Recent industry benchmarks show average office utilization landing in the mid-50s percent range. For example, CBRE’s 2024-2025 workplace study noted that while 79% of companies set target utilization rates of 65% or higher, actual utilization was averaging around 38%–40% (far lower than targets) cbre.com . Other surveys in 2024–2025 found global office utilization averaging roughly 50–55% (up from ~41% in 2023, but still well below ~61% seen pre-pandemic) 2727coworking.com . So, a “typical” modern hybrid office might use a little over half its capacity on an average day. In practical terms, this might look like certain peak days or zones are busy, but there’s still a lot of slack on less popular days or areas. Many corporate real estate leaders consider something in the 50–65% range to be an acceptable balance – it means space is being used enough to justify itself, yet there’s some room for flexibility and growth. Keep in mind, typical = not necessarily optimal for you. What’s good or bad depends on your strategy: a company that’s intentionally enabling lots of remote work might be fine with 50% utilization (and happy to trade space for flexibility), whereas a company paying for premium downtown office space might push to drive utilization higher. High Utilization: When utilization rates climb above 70%, we consider that high utilization of office space. At this level, the office is approaching full efficiency – most desks and rooms are occupied much of the time. Many organizations view ~70% as a target “good” utilization to strive for, in order to eliminate excess space but still avoid over-crowding 2727coworking.com . In fact, some companies now set aspirational targets in the 70–80% range for utilization, aiming to trim waste and get more value from their real estate 2727coworking.com . Hitting 80%+ average utilization consistently would be very high by historical standards (comparable to a busy pre-pandemic office) – it means your space is humming with activity. But be careful: sustaining too high a utilization (approaching 90–100%) can indicate over-utilization, which might lead to overcrowded rooms, no available desks, or employee discomfort. There’s a point where “efficient” turns into “cramped.” For example, U.S. federal workplace guidelines often plan for around 60% minimum occupancy, implying you don’t really want 100% daily utilization as it leaves no wiggle room workinsync.io workinsync.io . Good utilization is about balance: you want to use space enough to avoid waste (idle space), but also allow breathing room for peak times and future changes. High utilization also depends on the nature of work: a call center or a co-working hub might regularly hit 80%+ utilization because people are always at desks, whereas an R&D lab or field sales office might never go above 50% because employees are often elsewhere. Context matters. Industry benchmarks show variation: e.g. tech companies with flexible work models might only target 50–60% occupancy, while finance firms with mostly on-site staff might average 70%+ workinsync.io . A “good” utilization rate for your office is one that aligns with your teams’ work patterns and business goals. Key point: rather than chasing an arbitrary high number, focus on right-sizing – match your office supply to actual demand. If you achieve that, your utilization will naturally fall into a healthy range (whatever that number may be for you). Pro tip: When evaluating your utilization, look at peaks vs. averages. Many hybrid offices have “mid-week peak” days (e.g. Tuesdays–Thursdays) where occupancy surges, but low usage on Mondays or Fridays eptura.com . A space might be 80% utilized mid-week but 20% on Fridays, averaging ~50%. In such cases, you might still have opportunities to optimize (like scheduling more team office days evenly, or condensing activity to fewer days and closing the office on quiet days). The Balanced Hybrid™ approach advocated by Gather Sciences is one way to tackle this – it’s a purpose-driven, data-supported framework for hybrid work that aligns People, Patterns, Place, and Purpose gathersciences.com . In practice, that means carefully planning which teams are in-office when (Patterns) and designing the right amount and type of space (Place) to support those people and their work (Purpose). A balanced hybrid strategy can help achieve high effective utilization without simply forcing everyone back – by smartly coordinating hybrid schedules and office design, you ensure the office is active and valuable when people need it, and you’re not maintaining excess space that sits empty. Benchmark Summary Table For a quick recap, here’s an example summary of utilization benchmarks (actual percentages vary by source and office context): Utilization LevelDescription and ImplicationsExample Data (2024–25) LowUnder ~40% – Most of the space is unused;NA offices ~40–50% on average 2727coworking.com ; Global pandemic-era lows ~41% 2727coworking.com significant excess capacity and cost waste.CBRE observed ~38% actual use vs. targets cbre.com Typical~50–60% – Moderate use; space is half toGlobal avg ~54% in 2024 2727coworking.com ; Many companies target ≥65% cbre.com two-thirds utilized. Common for hybrid offices.Tech industry ~50–60% occupancy workinsync.io High~70–80% – Heavy use; space is near capacityHigh-performing offices target 70–80% 2727coworking.com ; Finance sector ~65–75% workinsync.io but not yet maxed out. Efficient but must monitor crowding.Pre-2020 “full” offices ~60–70%+ 2727coworking.com Very High90–100% – At or over capacity; often indicatesSome global occupancy rates >100% (more people than seats due to sharing) cbre.com . Not usually sustainable daily; plan for expansion or shifts. overcrowding or zero slack for peaks. (Note: “Occupancy” in industry reports can have varying definitions, but generally these figures align with utilization context. Always consider your specific measurement method.) As the table suggests, “good” office utilization is not one-size-fits-all. A target of 60% might be excellent for a predominantly remote company, whereas another firm might push for 75% through hoteling and schedule coordination. The key is to use benchmark data as a reference, but ultimately set your goals based on your unique workplace dynamics and objectives (employee experience, collaboration needs, cost constraints, etc.). Regularly compare your metrics against industry benchmarks and your own targets – if you’re well below peers, it might signal an opportunity to consolidate space; if you’re consistently above, it might signal a need for more space or better scheduling to avoid strain. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Q1. What is the difference between space utilization and occupancy? A: Occupancy tells you how many people are in a space at a given moment (usually expressed as a headcount or % of capacity), whereas space utilization tells you how effectively the space is used over time. Occupancy is a snapshot (e.g. “We’re at 50% occupancy right now”), and it’s great for gauging real-time crowding or free space. Utilization looks at the bigger picture: it considers duration and usage intensity (e.g. “This desk was occupied 4 hours out of an 8-hour day = 50% utilization”). In short, occupancy measures presence, utilization measures performance. A space can have high occupancy at times but low utilization overall if it’s only used in short bursts skedda.com . Both metrics are important – occupancy helps manage day-to-day capacity and safety, while utilization helps with long-term optimization of space skedda.com . Many workplace experts now prioritize tracking utilization because it captures whether a space truly supports work effectively, not just how many people could fit inside skedda.com . Q2. What is considered a good office utilization rate? A: “Good” utilization depends on context, but generally an office that’s being used roughly 60–70% of the time (or capacity) is considered well-utilized without being overpacked 2727coworking.com 2727coworking.com . Before hybrid work, 70%+ was often the goal. Today, with hybrid schedules, many companies find a sweet spot around the mid-50s%. Surveys show most organizations are currently averaging only around 40–60% utilization, and many have a goal to push closer to 65%+ cbre.com workinsync.io . A good rate really means you’ve minimized wasted space while still providing enough room for employees when they do come in. If you consistently see utilization above 80%, that might actually be too high – it could mean people struggle to find desks/rooms (no breathing room). On the flip side, under 40% suggests you’re renting a lot of empty space. So, a healthy zone is roughly in the middle. It’s also worth noting that good utilization varies by office type and policy: a consulting firm with people often on the road might never hit 50% and that’s fine for them, whereas a call center might expect 80% daily usage. Ultimately, good utilization is one that aligns with your operational needs and employee comfort. Balanced Hybrid™ principles suggest using data to set targets per team – e.g. a creative team that only needs to meet in office twice a week might be fine with lower average utilization, whereas a support team that pairs in-office daily might target higher. Q3. How do you measure space utilization? A: Measuring space utilization involves collecting data on occupancy over time and comparing it to capacity or available time. In practice, you calculate utilization as (time occupied)/(time available) for a given space, or (average people)/(capacity) over time. To get this data, companies use a mix of methods: sensors (motion sensors, desk occupancy sensors, infrared counters) can log when a seat or room is in use spaces.cisco.com ; Wi-Fi or network logins can track how many devices are present; access badge swipes can count entries skedda.com spaces.cisco.com ; and booking system logs (with check-ins) can compare reserved vs. actual use skedda.com . For example, to measure a meeting room’s utilization, you might look at calendar data (booked 5 hours today) and sensor data (actually occupied 3 hours) – that gives 3/8 = 37.5% utilization for the day. On a larger scale, if you want the utilization of an entire floor, you could average the occupancy of that floor throughout the day versus its capacity. Many modern workplace analytics tools do this automatically – they ingest sensor and reservation data and output utilization metrics. The key is having accurate real-world usage data: simply using booked schedules isn’t enough, since people don’t always show up or spaces go unused even if allocated. That’s why techniques like automatic check-ins (via QR code or Wi-Fi) and sensor validation are used to ensure you’re measuring actual presence skedda.com skedda.com . Once you have the data, you’ll look at metrics like average utilization (mean over a period) and peak utilization (busiest point) to understand patterns. In summary: measure utilization by tracking actual occupancy over time, using technology to gather the data, then divide by the total available capacity/time to get a percentage. Q4. What tools do companies use to track utilization? A: Organizations use a combination of hardware sensors and software platforms to track space utilization. Common tools include: occupancy sensors (motion sensors under desks or on ceilings, door counters, camera-based sensors – these detect when a space is occupied) spaces.cisco.com ; IoT devices like smart badges or beacons; Wi-Fi access point data (monitoring device connections to see presence); and access control systems (badge swipe logs at entrances can indicate how many people are in the building) spaces.cisco.com . On the software side, companies deploy workplace analytics platforms (sometimes part of an Integrated Workplace Management System, IWMS) that aggregate all this data and provide dashboards. For example, Cisco’s “smart space” system leverages real-time occupancy data to show usage patterns spaces.cisco.com spaces.cisco.com . Gather Sciences offers workplace analytics software that similarly integrates sensor data, badge data, and booking information to monitor how desks, rooms, and zones are utilized. These tools often provide visualizations (heat maps of busy areas, trend lines of daily attendance) and can send alerts – e.g. if a floor’s occupancy hits a certain threshold, or if a reserved desk wasn’t checked into (to free it up). Additionally, companies might use desk and room booking software (like Skedda, OfficeSpace, etc.) which include utilization reporting features – they track bookings vs. check-ins, no-shows, etc., helping identify underused resources skedda.com skedda.com . Even simple methods like manual headcounts or employee surveys are sometimes used (especially for smaller offices), though they’re less accurate and real-time. In summary, the toolkit ranges from sensors and IoT for data capture to analytics dashboards for data processing. The trend is toward integrated solutions where, for example, a sensor network feeds into a platform that not only reports utilization metrics but also helps you forecast and simulate changes (like “what if we went 100% hot-desking?”). By using these tools, companies gain evidence-based insights rather than guessing how their space is used. Q5. How does hybrid work affect space utilization? A: Hybrid work (where employees split time between office and remote) has a huge impact on space utilization. In general, hybrid arrangements lower the daily attendance and occupancy in offices, which in turn often lowers utilization rates – at least compared to the traditional full-office model. With hybrid schedules, you might have only 50% of employees in on a given day (or each person coming in 2–3 days a week), so on average the office is less populated than before. Global data post-2020 reflects this: physical office attendance stabilized around 50–60% of pre-pandemic levels in many places skedda.com . That means many desks and rooms go unused on any given day, driving down utilization percentages. However, hybrid work also introduces peaks and valleys in utilization. Often, there’s a “mid-week peak” – offices are busiest Tuesday–Thursday when teams coordinate office days, and emptier on Mondays and Fridays eptura.com . So you get spiky utilization: certain days/times zones are highly utilized, and others very low. This uneven usage can actually reduce average utilization while still causing peak crowding on popular days. Hybrid work therefore pushes organizations to plan more dynamically. It’s no longer useful to have a dedicated desk for every employee (because a lot of those desks sit idle on days the employee is home). Instead, many hybrid companies adopt desk sharing or hoteling to raise utilization – e.g. 2 or 3 people share one desk (since they won’t all be in at the same time), lifting that desk’s utilization closer to 100% across the week 2727coworking.com 2727coworking.com . Hybrid work also means rethinking space mix: maybe fewer individual workstations but more collaboration areas for those days everyone comes in. We’ve seen average space per person numbers drop as offices shrink their footprint due to hybrid (one report noted a ~15% reduction in square feet per person as sharing increases) cbre.com . In summary: hybrid work tends to lower overall utilization unless companies intentionally adjust their space. It introduces more variability – some days or hours are very underutilized. The challenge (and opportunity) is to use policies and design to balance this. A framework like Balanced Hybrid™ (developed by Gather Sciences) addresses this by aligning when people come in with how space is provided. By analyzing each department’s needs and creating purposeful in-office schedules (e.g. Team A in-office Tue/Wed, Team B Wed/Thu, etc.), companies can concentrate presence in a way that keeps offices sufficiently utilized on those days, rather than having everyone trickle in unpredictably gathersciences.com . Hybrid work, done right, should enable you to use less space more efficiently – for example, instead of needing 100% of desks for 100 people, you might need only 60 desks for those 100 people with a rotation, achieving, say, 70% average use of those 60 desks and saving the cost of 40 desks. It can improve utilization (and cost efficiency) if managed with data; if unmanaged, it can lead to large swaths of empty office space. The key is to monitor the new usage patterns closely and continuously adapt (through booking systems, sharing ratios, and policy) so your space usage stays in tune with hybrid work habits. Q6. Can space utilization data improve workplace design? A: Yes – tracking space utilization is extremely valuable for informing office design and layout improvements. When you collect data on how different rooms, desks, and areas are used, you get concrete evidence of what’s working and what’s not. This allows you to design (or redesign) the workplace to better match employee needs and eliminate waste. For example, suppose utilization data shows your small meeting rooms are occupied 80% of the time (always in demand) but your large conference room is only used 10% (mostly empty). Armed with that insight, you might decide to split the large room into two smaller huddle rooms – immediately boosting effective utilization and giving people the right kind of space skedda.com . Or maybe sensors reveal the couches in the lounge area are a hotspot (lots of use), while a row of cubicles nearby is underused – you could reconfigure that cubicle area into more open collaboration space that employees clearly gravitate toward. Utilization data essentially shines a light on employee behavior and preferences in the office. It can validate anecdotes with facts: rather than guessing “I think we need more phone booths,” you can see if the existing phone booths show near-100% utilization (indicating more are needed) or if they’re rarely used (indicating there was another issue like location or acoustics). Over time, you can also measure the impact of design changes. If you add those focus pods or adjust the desk layout, does utilization of quiet areas go up? Did the change relieve the over-booking of conference rooms? Continuous monitoring creates a feedback loop for iterative design improvements. Furthermore, sharing utilization metrics with designers or architects can help them create flexible, adaptive spaces. Modern designs often incorporate movable furniture or multi-purpose areas specifically so that utilization can improve (e.g. a space can serve as a café and a meeting area, maximizing use throughout the day). Importantly, utilization data also ties to employee experience: a well-utilized space usually means the office is lively and resources aren’t sitting idle, but also not so scarce that people are fighting over rooms. Striking that balance through design can improve satisfaction and productivity. In sum, workplace design should be data-driven whenever possible – by leveraging utilization analytics, companies like yours can configure the office to truly reflect how employees work, resulting in a space that is both efficient for the business and engaging for the people. As one facilities leader put it, “You must humanize the data” – use those numbers to create a narrative about what people need skedda.com , then adjust the physical space accordingly. It’s a continuous process, but one that leads to a smarter, more responsive workplace. By understanding and leveraging office space utilization metrics, you can optimize your workplace for both cost efficiency and employee effectiveness. Whether it’s through boosting desk sharing, fine-tuning meeting room setups, or embracing a Balanced Hybrid™ model for hybrid work, data on how your space is used is the key. Remember that tools like Gather Sciences’ workplace analytics software can help aggregate your workplace occupancy data – from desk sensors to meeting room analytics – into actionable insights. The result is a work environment that fits your people’s needs and your organization’s goals, with no square foot wasted. cbre.com skedda.com Sources: The insights and data points above were informed by industry research and reports, including CBRE’s Global Occupancy Insights cbre.com cbre.com , JLL and WorkInSync’s utilization benchmark reports workinsync.io 2727coworking.com , Skedda’s workplace utilization analysis skedda.com skedda.com , Envoy’s office occupancy guide envoy.com , and other workplace analytics resources spaces.cisco.com skedda.com . These provide real-world context to utilization metrics and underscore the importance of data-driven space planning in the modern office.