Say goodbye to dedicated desks and hello to collaborative workspaces.

More companies are ditching individual desks and embracing shared spaces, as 62% of employers are aiming for a ratio of 1.5 employees per desk, and the amount of individual workspaces has already decreased from 51% in 2021 to 40% in 2024, according to data from the commercial real estate company CBRE.

US companies are “way behind” other global employers in utilizing shared workspaces, said Kate Lister, principal at consulting firm Global Workplace Analytics. But with the prospect of shared workspaces cutting space and costs, and increasing collaboration, many employers finally see “what’s in it for me,” Lister told HR Brew.

Adding more shared or collaborative workspaces doesn’t mean companies have to eliminate dedicated desks entirely, and experts shared with HR Brew how optionality helps employees.

Employees want variety. After employees learned how to be productive remotely during the pandemic, their mindsets shifted around what type of workspace they wanted in the office, Lister said, or what she calls, rethinking their “me space” and “we space.”

Offices typically have more areas to do individual work, or me-spaces, with fewer rooms for shared work, or we-spaces, she said, but as more employees have efficient me-spaces at home, they primarily want we-space in the office for collaboration and connecting with coworkers.

In 2020, roughly 60% of employees worked in spaces individually assigned to them, according to research from real estate analytics firm Leesman. In 2023, that figure dropped to 40% as companies introduced unassigned workspaces, like “hot desking,” where employees shared desks with coworkers.

Increasing the number of shared or unassigned workspaces can help HR bring employees into the office, Peggie Rothe, Leesman’s chief insights and research officer, told HR Brew, because employees want variety in their workspaces for different work tasks and their various “moods.”

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