Big versus small. Which companies are drawing more employees back to the office in a hybrid working world

Smaller organisations are winning the back to office race, as corporate occupiers continue to adapt to a hybrid work environment.

That’s one of the findings from CBRE’s 2025 Australian Occupier Survey, which highlights a clear disparity between the behaviours at companies with less than 1,000 employees versus those with over 1,000.

CBRE’s Australian Head of Office Research Tom Broderick noted that staff at smaller organisations were mostly achieving their office attendance targets, with employees averaging around 3.1 days a week in the office.

Conversely, larger corporations were falling short, with an average attendance of only 2.6 days compared to the desired average of 2.9 days.

“This disparity suggests that the challenges and strategies for office occupancy vary considerably depending on the scale of the business, amid a persistent struggle to entice employees back to physical workplaces in some cities and sectors,” Mr Broderick said.

“That being said, 58% of the occupiers surveyed expect a continued improvement in office attendance rates over the next few years.”

Expectation versus actual days in the office 

Mr Broderick added that it was important to note that the pre-Covid average attendance rate was not five days per week per employee, but closer to four days per week due to part-time workers, annual/sick leave and the fact that some employees worked from home prior to the pandemic.

CBRE’s survey highlights that 65% of respondents are focusing on enhancing the employee experience through the workplace.

Felicity Marshall, Head of Pacific Workplace Consulting at CBRE, said, “When it comes to what’s top of mind for occupiers, the results are people centric. Organisations are prioritising employee experience and recognising the role leadership plays in modelling desired workplace behaviours and protocols.”

Overcoming key employee hurdles is also top-of-mind.

“Many organisations said providing enough small rooms on peak attendance days is their biggest challenge with respect to office attendance. This was closely followed by a lack of vibrancy on lower-attendance days,” Ms Marshall said.

Other key survey findings include:

• Australian workplaces are continuing to embrace greater agility. Mr Broderick noted, “The proportion of employees working in unassigned seating has nearly doubled over the past six years, from 30% to 53%, driven by the rise of hybrid working and the resulting recalibration of office space.”
• Office utilisation is a crucial factor influencing real estate footprint decisions. Occupiers are closely monitoring how effectively their office space is being used, with peak-day utilisation being a particularly important indicator. Across Australia, the average office utilisation throughout the week is 52%. This figure increases to 67% on peak days, demonstrating a concentration of activity, typically between Tuesdays to Thursdays. Encouragingly, approximately 22% of survey respondents reported peak-day utilisation exceeding 80%. 
  
   

   

• Many Australian companies are not enforcing office attendance. While 31% of respondents are actively enforcing return-to-office guidelines, 50% are taking a more lenient approach (choosing not to strictly enforce their policies) and a further 19% have not established any formal return-to-office policy.
• Organisations are largely through a post-Covid contractionary phase. “When it comes to footprint planning, the survey has confirmed trends that we are observing in the leasing market, with more examples of tenants expanding as a result of headcount growth and improved attendance figures,” Mr Broderick observed.
• Location, amenities and services are key. For those organisations seeking to renew their lease, 83% of respondents are prioritising location. In tandem, 77% of organisations highlighted that improved amenity and services were essential for them to consider relocating.
• The focus on flexibility is rising. Australian occupiers now have an average of 15.5% of their portfolio in flexible office space, up from 7.2% in 2022.