Hybrid Office: How Many Workstations Do You Really Need and How to Plan Them

In autumn, many companies put together next year’s budget and come back to the same question: does the office really need as many desks as there are employees? The hybrid office has become an everyday reality – people spend part of the week working from home and part in the office. Yet furniture and space plans are often still based on the principle of “one person, one desk”.

The result is familiar to many: on Friday half the office is empty, while on Tuesday there are not enough desks or free meeting rooms. In this article, we look at what the latest office occupancy data shows, how to calculate your own needs and which solutions help a space adapt.

Figures from general studies are not enough, because every company works to its own rhythm. You can assess your needs in four steps.

1. Collect data for at least 4–6 weeks: how many people actually come in each day. A desk booking system, access card data or even a simple spreadsheet will do.
2. Identify the peak day and the number of people in the office on that day. For example, in a company of 60 employees, 45 people work in the office on Tuesdays.
3. Add a 10–15% buffer for guests, new hires and unexpectedly busy days. In this example, that gives roughly 50–52 workstations.
4. Take team arrangements into account. If several teams decide to be in the office on the same day, the peak may be higher than the overall data suggests.

When calculating, also consider seasonality. In summer and over the holidays, there are usually fewer people in the office, so data collected during that time may show lower demand than there really is. You will get a more accurate picture in autumn or spring, when the working rhythm is normal.

The ratio in this example is about 1.2 employees per workstation. This is in line with the wider trend: according to CBRE, 48% of organisations now target a ratio of 1.01–1.49 employees per seat (up from 21% in 2024), while the share targeting more than 1.5 has fallen from 62% to 33%. Companies are choosing more moderate desk sharing so that no one is left without a place on peak days.

Freed-up space is not just square metres you can give up. It is often worth turning it into the kinds of spaces that hybrid work most often lacks.

HubStar’s data is telling here: 64% of meetings take place in rooms designed for four people or fewer. Meanwhile, rooms for more than 17 people host less than 4% of meetings and, when in use, are on average only 11.6% full. The share of enclosed workspaces grew from 4% to 10% in two years.

This shows why people come to the office: to meet their team, hold a short meeting or video call, and focus in peace. So when planning a hybrid office, consider:

• small meeting rooms for 2–4 people;
• acoustic booths for phone and video calls;
• collaboration areas with larger tables and soft seating;
• quiet zones for work that requires concentration.

When planning these zones, do not forget acoustics. As video calls become more frequent, places for talking need to be separated from quiet work areas – otherwise even a well-planned office will become noisy. Acoustic booths, soft seating with high backs and screens between desks help keep sound from spreading across the whole space.

Fewer desks do not necessarily mean lower costs. Part of the savings usually goes into meeting rooms, acoustic solutions, storage and more comfortable workstations. The difference is that this investment is used all week, rather than standing empty on Fridays.

A practical approach is to plan the budget in stages. Start with what causes the most problems – for example, a shortage of meeting rooms or places for calls. After a few months, review the occupancy data again and only then decide whether the number of workstations needs to change.

When planning next year’s budget, it is worth separating two parts: workstations, whose number you set based on the peak day, and shared spaces, which determine whether people are happy to come to the office. We wrote more about costs in our article “Office Fit-Out Cost in 2027: Furniture Prices and Budget Planning”.

What ratio of workstations to employees suits a hybrid office?

There is no universal ratio, but most organisations opt for moderate sharing – between 1.01 and 1.49 employees per workstation. It is worth setting the exact number based on your office’s peak day, with a 10–15% buffer.

Are shared workstations suitable for every team?

No. They work well when employees are not in the office every day and work on a laptop. Teams that use specialised equipment or a lot of documents every day are usually better off with permanent workstations.

How can I find out my office’s real occupancy?

It is worth collecting data for at least 4–6 weeks. You can use a desk booking system, access card data or simply record each day how many people are working in the office. The key is to see the differences between weekdays, not just the average.

Does reducing the number of desks save money?

It often saves space, but not always money. Many companies turn the freed-up area into meeting rooms, quiet zones or collaboration spaces. This is an investment in space that gets used more actively.

What furniture suits shared workstations?

Height-adjustable desks, ergonomic chairs with simple adjustment, lockable storage for personal belongings and modular desk configurations. What matters is that every workstation is equally comfortable for any employee.