Why Desk Sharing Matters

Planning an office layout can often feel like solving a Rubik's Cube, with challenges ranging from space limitations and employee preferences to the ongoing concern of cost and resource optimization.

One fundamental way to untangle this complexity is by calculating your desk-sharing ratio. 

In past decades, even before the pandemic, desk occupancy only hovered around 40-50% as many employees took days off, attended client meetings, or participated in training. After that, this dropped even lower to 20-30%, according to Luc Kamperman, Managing Partner at Veldhoen + Company. 

This low desk occupancy, he said, is a huge waste not just in terms of square meters and sustainability but also in operating costs. It’s one of the reasons to offer a hybrid office environment that better suits what people do.

Indeed, in a hybrid model, where employees don’t need to be in the office daily, you’ve likely been working to organize your hybrid office accordingly.

As the latest Flex Index report highlighted, most companies now practice hybrid work. Only 22% of employees work full-time in an office, compared to 67% of firms that offer work location flexibility.

In this context, the traditional office setup – with a dedicated desk for each employee, even if they don’t come to work daily – no longer seems to fit. Instead, sharing desks among several employees who come into the office on different days is becoming the norm.

This guide explores how optimizing your desk-sharing ratio in a hybrid office can benefit your business, enhance sustainability, and save costs, all while minimizing wasted space and creating an efficient, comfortable workplace by aiming to answer questions such as:

How to determine the right desk-to-person ratio?

How should you account for fluctuations in office attendance, like during busy seasons or special projects, when determining the desk-to-person ratio?

How can companies manage desk-sharing conflicts when employees need the same desk at the same time?

What guidelines should you, as a leader, follow to determine the 'right amount' of desks for your specific situation?

The list goes on, but I’m sure these are some of the key questions you want to get answered when navigating the optimal desk-sharing ratio for their hybrid offices.

What Is a Desk Sharing Ratio?

In workplace management, the desk-sharing ratio expresses the number of employees to the number of desks in an office. It's especially relevant in environments where not all employees are in the office simultaneously, such as with flexible schedules, partial remote work, and hot desking.

The desk-sharing ratio is key to assessing how well your office setup meets employees' needs while optimizing resources. Understanding this ratio helps you create smarter hybrid office strategies that boost productivity, flexibility, and sustainability.

What is the Optimal Desk-to-Employee Ratio in a Hybrid Office?

In summary: there is no such thing, according to experts.

Why? 

Because this ratio depends on various factors, like the nature of the work, company culture, employee preferences, and the percentage of your team working remotely or on hybrid work schedule. 

For example, if two people share the same desk at different times during the week, the people-to-desk ratio becomes 2:1. 

But even one desk for every two people may be overkill.

In many companies, only about 30% of employees are typically in the office at any given time. In this case, you should aim for a 0.4:1 desk-to-person ratio, shared exclusively with FlexOS by hybrid work expert Gleb Tsipursky.

However,” he told me, “there’s no one-size-fits-all-solution.”

Calculating the desk-sharing ratio in a workspace can help organizations optimize office space and resources. This ratio is particularly relevant in environments with hot-desking or flexible working arrangements. Here’s a simple formula to calculate the desk-sharing ratio:

Interpretation:

A ratio greater than 1 means there are more employees than desks, indicating that not every employee can have a desk at the same time. This is typical in workplaces with hot desking, remote work, or flexible schedules.

A ratio of 1 indicates one desk per employee, reflecting a traditional office setup where each employee has an assigned desk.

A ratio less than 1 suggests more desks than employees, which could indicate excess capacity or underutilized space.

Example Calculation:

If an office has 100 employees and 60 desks, the desk-sharing ratio would be calculated as follows:

This result means there are approximately 1.67 employees per desk. The office must rely on flexible schedules, hot desks, or remote work arrangements to accommodate everyone.

Overall, Luc Kamperman told us that a hybrid office with an occupancy rate of around 70% could be considered a “healthy” and “productive” environment. “This does not mean 70 desks for 100 people, but could be 40 desks for, on average, around 50 people showing up in the office (out of 100 people),” he said.

“The offering of seating is much more than just desks. It has a variety of alternative spaces like collaboration and project spaces that cater for the needs of people showing up in the hybrid office. Otherwise, people also don’t experience it as a flourishing and productive place.” – Luc Kamperman

At the same time, no fixed ratio means there’s room for flexibility and wiggling when accommodating your employees with hot desk-sharing solutions, which are numerous. 

One such solution, as exclusively shared by Luc, is an activity-based working (ABW) approach that recognizes people perform different activities in their day-to-day work and, therefore, need a variety of work settings supported by the right technology and culture to carry out these activities effectively.

“To create hybrid work environments based on this principle, ABW takes a human-centric approach to the ways we work by studying which activities are most closely related to a company's organizational and business goals, and takes that exploration of both quantitative and qualitative data to guide a strategy and plan to meet the physical, virtual and cultural needs of individuals and teams.” – Luc Kamperman

“Activity Based Working (ABW) is a workplace philosophy to make work more effective and efficient, but also more enjoyable for both the organization and the employee. This vision is realized by focussing on the employee and giving him the freedom (within boundaries) to decide for himself how to work, where to work, when to work, the tools to use and with whom to collaborate to get his work done – all focussed on the best outcome for the client.” – Luc Kamperman

So, Where’s The “Optimal” Desk Sharing Ratio?

If you have been patient enough to read here, the answer is: There is no fixed ratio for desk sharing. This ratio can vary widely based on factors like the type of work, company culture, employee preferences, and the percentage of staff working remotely or on flexible schedules.

Now that you know there's no set ratio for desk sharing and you've learned how to calculate it, along with some expert advice, there's only one thing left: How can you use hot desks effectively in your hybrid office?

How to Use Hot Desking Effectively in Your Hybrid Office?

Even if and when you’ve settled on the correct desk-sharing ratio, you still need to operationalize.

Sharing desks between employees can be done in multiple ways, depending on your needs and employee preferences.

One way to manage shared desks is to assign fixed desks to multiple people who come in on different days.

For example, if the marketing teams work on Monday and Tuesday and the Product team on Wednesday and Thursday, assigning desks to a group of people is relatively painless.

However, a more common way to manage desk sharing is hot desking.

Hot Desking means that desks are not assigned to anyone in particular and that employees pick an available desk when they come into the office.

Also called “hoteling,” hot desking enables companies to optimize office space by eliminating the need for dedicated desks for each employee. This approach lowers real estate expenses and allows more people   to use the same amount of space.

But, there are challenges too; employees find nothing more frustrating than commuting to an office (sometimes against their preferences) only to find no workspace available.

While some employees may understand that due to hybrid schedules, it no longer makes sense for a company to offer dedicated desks to everyone, many will only accept hot desks.

For a successful hot desking model, keep these best practices in mind:

Assess Employee Preferences: Survey to understand how employees want to utilize hot desks and introduce the system as a value-add to their work experience.

Establish Clear Guidelines: Create and communicate clear rules for desk booking, ensuring accessibility and understanding across the organization.

Invest in Reliable Software: Choose and implement user-friendly desk booking software, ensuring employees are trained and can easily manage desk reservations.

Reconfigure Office Layout: Adjust the office space to support hot desking, including creating collaboration areas and investing in ergonomic and multi-user equipment to enhance productivity.

Allow Adjustment Time: Provide a clear timeline and ample time for employees to adapt to the new hot desking system, planning for gradual implementation and potential delays.

Support the Roll-Out: Be visible and accessible during the initial launch, with a team ready to address questions and concerns to facilitate a smooth transition.

‍Monitor and Adjust: Collect and analyze desk usage data to continually refine the system, improving employee experience, productivity, and office design based on feedback.

Following these best practices, hot desking systems will ensure space is used optimally while improving the employee experience. 

Using the right platforms is key to allowing employees to reserve desks as needed, reducing the number of permanent desks required and freeing up space for other types of work areas.  

However, it's important to implement these systems thoughtfully to avoid frustration, Dr. Gleb Tsipursky told me for this article:

‍“Ensure that booking systems are user-friendly and that there are always a few unreserved desks for spontaneous use. The design should also consider the need for personal storage and technology integration, as employees won't have a permanent desk.” – Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, founder, Disaster Avoidance Experts.

For more tips, see our detailed guide to hot desking.‍

The Bottom Line

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to deciding the exact number of desks for your hybrid office.

As a leader, the best way to "figure it out" is by keeping an eye on how the space is actually being used and being ready to adjust as needed. It’s less about sticking to a set ratio and more about creating a flexible setup that works for your team, especially when they come together to collaborate or build connections, as shared by Gleb Tsipursky.

Even though there’s no fixed ratio, leaders can always create a dynamic and productive hybrid office, aiming for an average desk utilization of around 70%, allowing room for peaks while avoiding the extremes of emptiness or overcrowding. 

Busy days are inevitable but infrequent, and with proper preparation, they can be managed effectively, said Luc Kamperman.