While many companies are being more forceful in asking workers to come back to the office, the number of people using this space remains far from what it could, with only 40% of employees using their office for the first half of 2023, according to CBRE. 

Some of that can be attributed to the lackluster return numbers, but CBRE also noted that more space sharing or allocation of people to seats is occurring. Also, space planning efficiency has allowed companies to reduce their global office portfolios. Many companies have increased these efficiencies by about 20% since January 2020, which has helped them reduce their portfolio size by up to 30%. Yet, despite the improvements and reductions, 64% of global office space remains underutilized. This is a big concern for corporate real estate leaders, both for operational and financial reasons.

As a result, more are trying to focus on what's actually used or utilization rates. More companies are also relying on performance metrics to drive their portfolio rationalization and space optimization efforts rather than just planning metrics.