How many workplaces do you need with hybrid work?

Assumptions are where the trouble starts, and nowhere more so than in hybrid work. The moment you settle on a number, "let's do 0.7 desks per person", without grounding it, you've guessed. And a guess about how much space you need is an expensive thing to get wrong.

A ratio is an assumption in disguise

The tempting shortcut is a fixed ratio, copied from a benchmark or a neighbour. But a ratio hides all the questions that actually matter: how do these people work, what do they come in to do, and what has leadership decided about being together? A number that skips those is just an assumption with a decimal point.

Two things have to meet: strategy and need

The right answer comes from a dialogue between two sides. One is where people can do their work most effectively, measured, not assumed. The other is the goals of the organisation: what leadership wants the office to be for. Hybrid isn't only a 'needs' question; how many days people come in can be a deliberate strategic choice: to build culture, to bring certain teams together, to be present at a location when it matters. Both sides are legitimate, and the honest answer lives where they meet.

Set the policy, then size the space

Once the policy is clear (how many days, and why) you can work out what actually follows from it: how much space you need across a typical week, and, just as importantly, what kinds. Because the number of in-office days, once management sets it, directly shapes the number and types of workplaces you need to make that strategy work.

The office is not just a clubhouse

Here's where many organisations get caught out. It's easy to assume the office is mainly for collaboration, so you fill it with meeting rooms and open areas. But our research consistently shows the opposite gap: space to concentrate, or to work in small focused teams, is under-provided. If people come in and can't find a quiet place to think, the policy backfires. Getting the mix right matters as much as getting the amount right.

The question isn't "how many desks?" It's "what does our strategy ask of our space, and what do our people need to make it work?"

From guess to grounded

So 'how many workplaces do you need?' has no universal answer, and that's the point. It's a clear strategic choice about days, met with a measured understanding of how people really work, translated into the right amount and the right types of space. Ground it that way and hybrid stops being a number you defend and becomes a plan you can stand behind.