Your Office Feels Full. The Data Says Otherwise

So why does the office feel full when half the desks are empty?

The office feels full because of how people behave, not how space is actually used. Ghost bookings lock desks and rooms that nobody shows up to. Peak-hour arrivals create a busy illusion that disappears by early afternoon. And because most organizations measure bookings rather than actual presence, the data reinforces the illusion rather than challenging it.

The numbers behind the feeling

Global average office utilization has risen to 53% in 2026, up from 38% in 2024, according to CBRE's 2026 Global Workplace & Occupancy Insights report. That means even with return-to-office mandates accelerating, the average office sits empty for nearly half the working day.

In the US, attendance has recovered to around 80% of pre-pandemic levels according to Marcus & Millichap — but pre-pandemic offices were already running at 40–60% utilization. 80% of a number that was already low is still a lot of empty space.

Three reasons the office feels fuller than it is

1. Ghost bookings inflate perceived demand A reservation is intent, not proof of use. When a meeting room shows as booked for three hours but sits empty for two of them, your utilization data is measuring what people planned — not what they did. Without sensors that track actual presence, your numbers are wrong by design.
2. Peak hours mask the daily average If 80% of your staff arrive between 9am and 10am, the office will look full during that window. But if most people leave by 3pm, your average daily occupancy may be 30 points lower than the morning peak suggests.
3. Space is distributed unevenly Some floors are consistently over-used while others sit empty. Areas near the entrance, coffee station, or natural light feel crowded. The problem isn't always total capacity — it's that capacity isn't understood or distributed properly.

What changes when you measure properly

Organizations that replace booking data with sensor-based presence data consistently find more room to optimize than expected. Notino worked with Spaceti to measure real desk utilization and found they could fit 15% more employees into the same footprint — while still dedicating 20% of the office to quiet zones and focus areas.

What is a healthy utilization rate?

Most workplace strategists consider 60–75% average utilization across the working week to be the healthy target range. Below 50% consistently suggests significant over-provisioning. Above 80% consistently means people will start struggling to find space.

The CBRE global average of 53% in 2026 suggests most organizations have room to either consolidate space or improve how existing space is activated — or both.