VergeSense unveiled the findings of its fourth edition of the Occupancy Intelligence Index, the only report based on the largest first-party space utilization data set in the world.

The fourth edition of the Occupancy Intelligence Index reports on global average capacity usage and space usage trends from the first half of 2024, diving into key elements of space design and space utilization. This edition analyzed over 180,000 spaces from over 200 customers covering more than 140 million square feet of commercial real estate to understand the current space mix in offices around the globe.

Within this analysis, VergeSense uncovered the latest trends and patterns across space type, capacity usage, active and passive time usage of different space types, design allocation and behaviors, and more. These insights provide a benchmark for others and reflect the strategies being used to accommodate new ways of working and to drive greater space efficiency.

Key insights from the report include:

• Employee behaviors have changed, so collaboration spaces are important. Compared to 2023, active time usage in collaboration spaces has increased. For the first time, collaboration spaces, including Collaboration Rooms (21.5%), Conference Rooms (20.5%), and Open Collaboration Spaces (15%), now have a higher active time usage than Desks (14.5%).
• How people work is changing, but the space mix hasn't caught up. Currently, the global space mix is 54.1% focus space types (Desks, Offices, Phone booths) and 18.4% collaboration space types (Collaboration Room, Conference Room, Open Collaboration Space).
• About a third of the total time usage of Desks and Offices is passive. When we look at passive occupancy, Desks and Offices have a higher percentage of passive time usage than any other space type. Up to a third of total usage is passive.
• Workplace leaders still have an opportunity to right-size meeting rooms.Despite the size of the meeting room, space is being ghosted and left underutilized, leaving valuable cost-savings on the table. For most meeting rooms, ghosted meetings account for13-15% of the time spaces are booked.

"Over the last several years, we've seen the transition to flexible workplace strategies take place and hypothesized that the office would become a hub for collaboration across virtual, hybrid, and in-person mediums," said Dan Ryan, CEO and Co-Founder at VergeSense. "This assumption is reflected in utilization data, signaling a global shift in how we use the office. When people are in the office, they spend more time working in collaboration spaces, presenting workplace leaders with an opportunity to adjust their space designs to better align with team needs and behaviors."

To learn more and download a copy of the Occupancy Intelligence Index, visit this page for more information.