Office occupancy in the capital rises as temperatures soar

Data from workplace technology company, Freespace, shows that despite the extreme heat office occupancy in London reached 43 per cent on Tuesday, making it one of the busiest Tuesdays in 2022.

Furthermore, occupancy in London on the traditionally quieter day of Monday reached 26 per cent, making it one of the busiest Mondays this year.

The findings come from The Freespace Index which raises questions on office user preferences at a time of extreme weather.

Raj Krishnamurthy, Freespace CEO, commented: “People have been given more flexibility and more say in where, when, and how they work. If they are visiting the office to enjoy the conditioned environments and to keep cool during this extreme heat, then this is another way of demonstrating the benefits of the modern office. Being given the right environment to work is all employees want and businesses should focus on this rather than getting too stressed about forcing a specific work pattern.

“Looking ahead, the same could be said about the expected behaviour in the winter to keep warm, which will play out to be a balance between cost of transport versus the cost of heating your home office. The acceptance of new working patterns has given everybody a newfound freedom to work where they want and how they want; to move the dial between independent and collaborative working as needed. This freedom needs to be harnessed. Businesses will gain significantly from smarter use of their real estate resources in the months and years to come.”

The Freespace Index is derived from over 140,000 sensors worldwide that measure building occupancy and environmental conditions.