Flexibility, technology and hybrid working are moving up the agenda for occupiers

Offices will repopulate over the remainder of this year, led by small companies — those with less than 100 employees, according to the EMEA Occupier Survey of 130 companies from CBRE.

The survey found that small companies are further advanced in the return to office. Over 80 percent of small companies report all locations open. This compares with only a third of the largest companies, although a majority of them have opened more than half of their sites.

The study also highlights differences by sector.  Over 70 percent of life sciences companies report full reopening of offices, partly reflecting the difficulty of working from home in this sector. Banking & finance (57 percent) and technology, media & telecom (TMT) (46 percent) are reopening at a more deliberate pace.

Richard Holberton, CBRE’s head of EMEA office occupier research, comments: “The return to offices is relatively limited, but companies are putting considerable effort into facilitati