So, when it comes down to it, what stands in the way of people and the office? 

The first two groups of barriers had to do with time. Whether that was time lost getting to the office or time lost once in the office. For the former, the usual suspects were at the top of the list.

• Commute is too long 41%
• Gas prices are too high 32%
• Parking is too expensive 20%

Of respondents that chose “other” there were a lot of mentions of inclement weather. Perhaps, because of these barriers, 23% of employees noted they don’t feel motivated to come into the office. 

The second piece of the puzzle for participants was time lost once respondents were in the office. By that, we mean any parts of their days where they felt they lost time due to a lack of resources, poor office design or complicated processes.

Whether that was spending time each morning finding the equipment needed for their ideal desk setup or wandering around trying to find a free meeting room - respondents regularly noted that these time-sucks make the office less appealing to them. 

In fact, 46% of respondents said that the reason they don’t come into the office is because they believe they are more productive with their at-home work setup. We dug a little deeper and found that:

• 76% of employees would be more productive in the office if they had all the equipment they needed set up on their desk
• 89% of people spend up to 20 minutes when they get to the office looking for the right equipment

On top of this, nearly 20% responded that their office is empty and not enjoyable. Of respondents that chose “other” noise levels in the office were a frequently cited concern. 

It’s interesting to note that many of these concerns center around an employee’s sense of productivity. Whether it be time lost to the commute or time lost in the office, participants regularly noted that these things took up time that would have otherwise been used for their work. Perhaps, this brings into question how we collectively define productivity (but more on that later).

Lastly, some respondents cited things at home that prevent them from coming into the office. This includes things like childcare costs, and pets left at home. Surprisingly, however, both of these concerns were some of the least cited barriers, despite 71% of respondents having children and 79% having pets at home.

When asked of the barriers listed above, which is the biggest for you, the three responses of lowest concern were:

• Don't have childcare or childcare cost is too high 3% 
• Have pets at home, don’t have daycare for them 3% 
• Office is empty and not enjoyable 2%

The top three areas of concern: 

• More productive with at-home work setup 29%
• Commute is too long 20%
• Gas prices are too high 14%

While companies can’t fix traffic or gas prices, they can certainly subsidize costs. And when it comes to productivity and work setups, office leaders must ensure that desks, rooms and any other office spaces are resourced appropriately.

To fix a problem, you have to understand it. We know what stops people from coming into the office, but what are the elements of an office that draw them in?

When asked what would make them come into the office more, the top two incentives were office perks (44%), like catered lunch or on-site services, and coverage of commuter costs (39%). 

Making the trip into the city or to your office HQ can be costly. Our friends at Owl Labs found that hybrid workers spend an average of $51 a day when they go into the office. 

When companies can support their teams with stipends to offset the cost of the city, people are more likely to make the trip. In fact, 53% of respondents would need anywhere from $50 to $75 to make the trip into the office.

Both the third and fourth most cited draws to in-person work were centered around who would be in the office. When respondents knew their manager or leaders would be around, 35% would be motivated to head into the office. Another 31% would want to come in if they knew their colleagues would be there. 

The power of other people was a common theme in participant’s responses. In fact, 73% of respondents reported feeling more connected to their company when in-office with their colleagues. Providing teams with visibility into office activity is an integral part of getting people back into the office together.

Rounding out the list were: 

• Benefits related to childcare cost 26%
• Stipend for parking 23%
• Likelihood that I won’t get promoted if I don't come to the office 22%

In order for companies to counteract office detractors, they need to be thoughtful about not only their incentives but also the technology and tools they provide. 

Teams don’t want to spend more money just to be in the office, so exploring commuter benefits and meal stipends is a great starting point. But from there, it’s important to explore how the office will work once your teams arrive. Remember, many detractors around in-office work stem from a sense of lost productivity. Minimize wasted time with effective office resources.

By and large, employees do feel like they are more productive at home, 71% in fact. Participants who felt strongly anti-office cited the noisy environment and lack of focus space. This is interesting to note because many companies are gearing their office design towards more collaborative spaces. Think: open areas, meeting rooms meant for collaboration and wall-less floor plans. 

Yet, to get people back into the office, it may be more beneficial to consider how to create more heads-down focused areas for team members that don’t work as well in open floor plans. 

“I am more productive at home,” explained one survey participant. “We have an open office environment and it is so noisy that I cannot get work done. If we had cubicles or an office, my preference would be to still work at home but I would be more open to being at the office. An open office environment may work for some but not for me.”

These notes around noisiness do also raise the question: Does the way we define productivity influence our opinions about the office? According to respondents, not only do they feel more productive at home, they also feel more energized and more creative.

Which makes us wonder: In lieu of recent conversations, are people looking at productivity purely through the lens of output? In a research report from the end of 2023, we found that leaders use the following metrics to measure productivity: 

• Employee output (64%)
• Employee engagement (46%)
• Company revenue (44%)
• Customer retention (39%)

Clearly, output is a top concern so It would be understandable if both teams and leaders were focused on that single metric. Just consider the recent onslaught of mass layoffs and empty job searches. 

Since January 1st, 2023, over 5487 companies have announced mass layoffs and since January 2024, over 1582 companies have announced mass layoffs. If employees are already concerned about job security then maybe they are laser-focused on the output levels they can achieve at home? 

Coming in at the second spot, employee engagement is also an area of focus. Maybe, time spent in the office is more geared towards that engagement piece. Whatever the reasoning, it’s clear that workplace managers, facilities leaders and IT teams have work to do when it comes to resourcing the office to support productive days. 

When people make the trek into the office they expect access to the things they need. From meeting rooms to hot desks to other types of spaces, many respondents reported having solutions in place but of those that don’t, the time lost searching for the right resources is a major time suck. 

Friction with office meeting room scheduling 

Nearly 90% of participants noted that their company uses meeting room booking software. Of those that didn’t, 74% of respondents said it takes them up to 10 minutes to find a free meeting room.

“There aren’t enough meeting rooms available for recurring meetings, it takes a lot of time to schedule these meetings when there is such little space and everyone needs a room,” noted one respondent. 

Overall, the amount of meetings on the calendar didn’t have too much impact on whether or not a person came into the office on a given day. When asked: do you tend to come into the office more on days with lots of meetings or days with a fairly open schedule, respondents said: 

• More 36%
• No difference 34%
• Fewer 30%

When taking a meeting in the office, 30% of survey respondents noted that more than half of the call attendees were working remotely or from another location.

Interestingly enough, nearly 30% of respondents reported less than half of attendees took the call virtually. This suggests that while some people are coming in the office and sitting on video calls, they are also meeting in-person more frequently.

In fact, when respondents were in the office, 46% reported occasionally having ad-hoc meetings with other team members in the office. Another 23% reported having these spontaneous meetings frequently, with another 20% saying this almost always happens. 

These impromptu moments of collaboration suggest that when people do make the trek to the office, they are more likely to interact and collaborate with other team members.

Hot desking and flexible seating

Over 70% of participants said they use desk booking software. Of those that didn’t, 62% said they spend up to 10 minutes looking for a free desk.

In fact, when asked if they take any extra measures to secure their favorite desk 63% of hybrid employees said yes. Of those that did take extra measures to secure their favorite desk, the majority pointed to things like leaving the house early, taking a better train or, even, showing up to the office before the doors open. 

“I find it very aggravating when I come to work and a stranger is sitting at my desk. I then have to tell them to get out of my seat,” explained another. 

When asked what criteria they were looking for when selecting a desk, the majority of respondents ranked preferences in this order: 

1. Desk near my team
2. Desk near teams you want to collaborate with
3. Desk near your favorite amenities (coffee, kitchen, collab areas)
4. Desk with the right equipment set up
5. Desk in proximity of leadership

With both desks near team members and desks near other departments being top priority, it’s clear that when people do come into the office they want to be around other people. 

The vast majority of industries will never go back to a 5 days in the office schedule. Flexible and hybrid work are here to stay. Mandate or not, you still need employees to buy into the office experience.

So, how can you organically get people into the office during the week? Here’s where we see companies moving the needle: 

Resource your office effectively: A lot of respondents remain concerned about their individual productivity in the office. From not having the right desk setup to finding a free room for a call - leaders need to invest time and resources into creating office experiences that support productive workdays, not hinder them.

Provide points of connection for teams: No one wants to commute to the office just to find a sea of empty desks. Other people continue to be a big reason for making the trip into the workplace. Companies should make sharing office activity a priority so teams can better plan for their week.

Find ways to offset costs for employees: Making the commute into the city can be costly, when employers work to offset this cost, teams are more likely to work in person. We actually experimented with this at Robin (learn more about that trial here) and increased office attendance by 40% in one quarter.  

‍Continue iterating on your office strategy: The tides are shifting when it comes to employee perceptions of in-office work but there’s still more to be done. While you may feel like you’ve tried every trick in the book, now is not the time to throw in the towel. Data shows that offices are getting busier and people are beginning to understand the connection between time in office and time spent socializing with other people during the week. Keep trying new approaches and, maybe even dust off some of those 2021 plans and give them another shot.