1- Employee resistance to return-to-office mandates has dramatically reduced. Only 7% of workers now say they would quit over an RTO policy, down from 51% in January 2025.
2- For corporate tenants, this means space planning assumptions from recent years are now outdated. Footprints sized for hybrid-first attendance may face capacity constraints as in-office presence rises.
3- With laiout you can model multiple occupancy scenarios instantly, test layouts for different attendance patterns and make confident lease decisions before committing.
The data is unambiguous. According to a recent workforce study, 47% of employees now expect their roles to be wholly or mainly on-site this year, with another 27% anticipating structured hybrid arrangements. The era of widespread RTO pushback has ended, and the implications for space planning are immediate.
- Earlier planning assumptions are worth revisiting. Tenants who right-sized during peak remote adoption may now face different capacity requirements. Does your current footprint support Tuesday and Wednesday peaks when 80% of staff appear? What happens when leadership mandates a fourth anchor day?
- Compliance is being tracked. Recent analysis of RTO enforcement found that 37% of companies now actively monitor office attendance, up from 17% in 2024. This is not optional flexibility, it's measured expectation.
- The market has recalibrated. The 2026 Office Outlook confirms that hybrid work is now the baseline operating model, but companies are optimising for efficiency rather than contraction. The question is no longer whether staff will return. It is how much space you need when they do.
- Model 60% versus 85% occupancy: Upload your shortlisted floor plates and generate layouts for different attendance scenarios instantly. See exactly how many desks, meeting rooms and breakout zones fit under each model, with live cost and capacity metrics.
- Align leadership, HR and facilities in a single session: Instead of circulating static PDFs that no one reads the same way, walk stakeholders through interactive 3D walkthroughs. Everyone evaluates identical options. Decisions that took weeks now happen in one meeting.
- Compare buildings using consistent assumptions: Run feasibility across three or four shortlisted spaces using the same attendance inputs. Export quantities, estimated fit-out costs and carbon data, so your negotiation is grounded in evidence, not guesswork.
Q1: We already have a hybrid policy. Why revisit space planning now?
Because attendance patterns are shifting. If your current assumptions date from 2023, they likely underestimate actual in-office presence. Testing updated scenarios now prevents costly surprises mid-lease.
Q2: How quickly can we run these scenarios?
With laiout, multiple layout options generate in minutes. You can compare density configurations, amenity placements and desk counts live during internal planning sessions.
Q3: Does this replace our workplace consultants?
laiout accelerates early-stage feasibility so you engage consultants with clearer requirements and better questions, reducing external spend on exploratory rounds.
For corporate tenants, the collapse of RTO resistance is not a headline. It is a planning input. Space strategies built for maximum flexibility may now need recalibration toward sustainable capacity. By modelling attendance scenarios before lease commitment, you avoid both overcrowding and unnecessary cost. If you are ready to test what your future office actually needs, laiout gives you the speed and clarity to decide with confidence. Book a demo with laiout today and plan your space for how work is actually happening.
Author: Theodore Harding, laiout
Find out the latest news involving laiout, AI Floor plan generation and Proptech.
