At the October luncheon titled "Return to Office: What We Know Now That We Didn't Know Then," we had a fantastic discussion moderated by Lauren Hasson from JLL, with insights from Ben Baldwin at Fidelity and Jaime Kinch from Moderna.
The key takeaway? Office attendance is on the rise, hitting a new post-pandemic high in July 2025! While remote job postings peaked at around 17% in 2023, they have steadily trended downward to a current rate just under 14% but remaining above the 5-6% range at the start of the decade. As employees return to the office, companies discover that both productivity and innovation increase, and attendance trends indicate that employees often choose to be in the office even more than their companies mandate, which is an excellent sign supporting the positive benefits of being together.
To encourage employees to return, Ben and Jaime emphasized that employees crave inspiring workspaces. The environment should facilitate collaboration while also helping employees focus and be productive. Employees are looking for spaces with no friction that feel good to work in and make it easy to connect with colleagues. However, balancing work and life remains a challenge and a priority for everyone. Implementing a "core hours" approach during midday hours allows team collaboration while maintaining flexibility.
Overall, the discussion highlighted that design changes in our office spaces continue to reflect a gradual evolution rather than a complete overhaul. In closing, the panel agreed that it wouldn't be surprising to see office occupancy and utilization rates return to levels at the start of 2020 by the end of this decade. This dynamic conversation reinforced the idea that office space will continue to have a place in our culture, as long as it remains dynamic, collaborative, and conducive to productivity! So, build beautiful places, and companies will come!
