- US office attendance fell back to 67% of pre-COVID levels in March 2026, down from a 75% peak seen in 2025.
- Major employers are tightening return-to-office policies, but most have stabilized around fixed hybrid work.
- The persistence of hybrid models signals a lasting shift in office demand, even as labor market leverage inches toward employers.
Office Attendance Slips as Hybrid Models Hold
According to GlobeSt, US office utilization lost ground in early 2026, retreating to 67% of January 2020 levels per a new Savills report. This reverses progress seen in 2025, when attendance peaked at 75% of pre-pandemic norms.
The report indicates that, despite stricter return-to-office (RTO) initiatives by Fortune 200 employers, these changes have not produced lasting momentum in actual office use. Most companies appear to be sticking with hybrid work structures adopted during the pandemic, even as they nudge attendance requirements upward.
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Workplace Policy Shifts Remain Incremental
Savills examined workplace practices among the top 200 Fortune 500 companies, finding that 55% now use fixed hybrid arrangements—a marginal drop from 56.4% in 2025. Firms relying on office-first models increased to 27%, up from 24%, while those with flexible hybrid models and remote-first policies both ticked down slightly.
Notably, nearly 90% of companies did not alter their attendance requirements year-over-year, and only 6% raised required in-office days. For most, the standard remains three to four days per week in the office, reflecting a clear preference for hybrid over fully remote or strictly in-person operations.
Softening Labor Market, Stable Strategies
With US unemployment up to 4.3% in March 2026, employers theoretically have more leverage to push for in-office work. However, the Savills report describes current policy changes as modest tightening rather than the sweeping mandates seen earlier in the return-to-office push.
Fixed hybrid remains dominant across sectors, including technology, finance, healthcare, energy, and retail, with agriculture standing as the outlier favoring office-first. Most large employers appear to have settled into enduring workplace frameworks, making further significant policy shifts less likely in the near term.
Why It Matters
CRE owners, investors, and office operators should see the stalling of office attendance as a signal that incremental policy changes will not return office demand to pre-pandemic form—at least for now. The durability of hybrid work, confirmed by 2026 employer data, underpins ongoing soft office utilization and could further depress long-term demand for workspace, especially in non-prime markets. Savills’ findings suggest that unless there is a material event or structural shift, fixed hybrid will anchor workplace policies well into the future.
What’s Next
Future CRE activity will hinge on whether shifting market conditions—like deeper labor market cooling or productivity debates—prompt a meaningful move away from entrenched hybrid norms. For now, owners and brokers should expect continued muted office foot traffic outside of top-tier markets, with hybrid as the baseline model for most occupiers in 2026 and beyond.
