The global workforce has found its post-pandemic equilibrium, stabilizing around structured hybrid models, according to JLL’s Global Occupancy Planning Benchmark Report 2026. The report draws on insights from 84 organizations representing 716 million square feet of portfolios across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.
The data signals a decisive shift in how occupiers are returning to the office. The gap between actual and target office utilization has narrowed, decreasing from 25 percentage points in 2025 to 18 in 2026, marking the lowest level recorded since the pandemic. Actual utilization reached 56 percent globally against a target of 74 percent, with a dramatic surge in structured midweek presence as a primary driver. The share of employees attending three to four days per week jumped to more than half (55 percent), up 19 percentage points in a single year, the largest year-over-year shift recorded in three years of
