Informing Return to Office (RTO) Strategy

Introduction

Organizations are no longer debating whether employees will return to the office; they are working out how to make in-person work credible, productive, and sustainable in a structurally hybrid world.

This brief assembles evidence from CBRE, JLL, Gallup, Pew, and other large datasets to describe what is actually happening in corporate portfolios and workplaces, rather than what any one stakeholder prefers. Section 1 establishes a quantitative baseline for current RTO norms, including policy patterns, attendance expectations, and utilization levels. Section 2 examines how organizations manage the structural condition of having more people than seats, characterized by rising seat-sharing ratios, denser layouts, and a shift from static headcount metrics to peak-oriented measures of demand. Section 3 examines how attendance expectations are being codified and enforced, including the shift by some firms to full-time in-office models for specific segments. Section 4 then synthesizes cross-study findings on what makes RTO “stick,” highlighting the management practices, communication strategies, and spatial responses that differentiate resilient approaches from those that generate backlash. The goal is to provide an evidence-grounded reference for leaders who are aligning policy, space, and practice in the current RTO landscape.

Click here to download a PDF copy of the full white paper.

Ready to establish an effective and harmonious RTO policy in new or existing office space? Fill out the contact form below to see how we can help.