Why the office feels packed on some days and empty on others

Average occupancy tells only part of the story because office demand is no longer spread evenly across the week. Even with a 45 per cent average occupancy benchmark, workplaces can still feel crowded on specific days and in certain zones, creating pressure points that make the office seem full while large amounts of capacity remain unused elsewhere.

Spacewell, a leading provider of workplace management software, has introduced its Workplace Benchmark Report 2026, ‘Office Myths vs. Real Use’ offering a fresh view of how office space is being used across industries as hybrid work continues to evolve.

Using aggregated, anonymised data collected from more than 80,000 sensors across 236 buildings in 20 countries, the report uncovers clear patterns in occupancy, utilisation, vacancy, and reservation behaviour.

These findings show that the workplace challenge is no longer only about space volume, but about how effectively space supports the way employees actually work. For organisations, this creates an opportunity to uncover hidden inefficiencies, make better use of existing capacity, and shape workplaces that are more responsive to real demand.

Free to download, the report gives workplace, real estate, and facilities leaders a practical benchmark to evaluate their own performance and identify opportunities to optimise space, improve employee experience, and support better decision-making.