Space Utilization vs Space Occupancy: The Key to Smarter, Cost-Effective Offices

Space utilization (also called workspace efficiency) measures how often and how intensively spaces are actually used over time. Space occupancy refers to the headcount of people physically present at a given moment. In the modern workplace, both metrics are vital for smarter office planning—but they answer different questions and drive different decisions.

In the past, if a desk was assigned, it was probably being used. But in hybrid work environments, that assumption no longer holds. CBRE found that office occupancy allocations have risen by approximately 20% since 2020, stabilizing between 51% and 60% of pre-pandemic levels (per Cushman & Wakefield's 2025 research). Yet space utilization remains under 40%. That means the majority of office square footage is sitting idle, quietly draining budget and missing opportunities to connect teams.

The fix starts with understanding the crucial difference between occupancy and utilization. This guide covers how to measure both, why leading CRE firms now prioritize utilization over occupancy, and how to bridge the gap between planned and actual space use.

What Is Space Utilization?

Space utilization measures how often and how intensively spaces are actually used. Utilization is typically tracked as a percentage comparing actual use time to available time. For example, if a meeting room is booked for six hours but only occupied for two, its utilization rate is 33%.

JLL's tenth annual Global Occupancy Planning Benchmark Report (2024/25) emphasizes that space utilization data has become the single most important metric for corporate real estate. CBRE also notes that utilization has become a critical indicator of workplace performance in an era of hybrid work, eclipsing metrics such as cost per seat or density.

Utilization answers the question: Is this space actually working for the people who use it, or is there a disconnect between how the office is configured and how people actually work?

What Is Space Occupancy?

Space occupancy refers to the number of people in a space at a given time—a simple headcount of physical presence. Occupancy can be expressed as a percentage (a 25-person conference room with 15 people inside equals 60% occupancy) or as a raw number ("15 people in this meeting room").

Occupancy answers the basic question: How many people are here right now? This metric helps monitor attendance and capacity. However, occupancy doesn't capture whether the space is being used effectively. Cushman & Wakefield's 2025 research shows that physical attendance has stabilized at about 51–60% of pre-pandemic levels, yet average space utilization remains under 40%. Even when occupancy looks healthy, much of the space can still be underutilized.

Occupancy vs. Utilization: Key Differences

Key takeaway: Occupancy indicates how many people are present, while utilization measures how effectively the space serves its intended purpose. High occupancy does not guarantee high utilization.

Global Utilization Benchmarks (2024-2025)

Understanding industry benchmarks helps organizations set realistic targets and identify optimization opportunities.

Weekly patterns show that space utilization peaks on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and troughs on Mondays and Fridays. Per XY Sense's Workplace Utilization Index, 36% of workstations go unused on a typical work day, and 29% are used for less than three hours per day.

How to Measure Space Occupancy

The best practice is to keep an up-to-date seating plan and maintain accurate headcount data. Occupancy can be expressed as a percentage or as a raw number. For instance, 40 out of 50 people in the office at noon gives you 80% space occupancy.

In a traditional fixed-desk setup where employees go to the office five days a week, measurement is straightforward. However, in flexible working environments, tracking becomes trickier. Badge swipes, seat sensors, and WiFi-based occupancy tracking are common methods organizations use to track occupancy.

Measuring occupancy by comparing reservations to actual check-ins is unreliable because some people might be on site but not check in, while others may check in but be at home.

How to Measure Space Utilization

The best practice is to track real-time presence data from multiple sources—sensors, WiFi logins, or access control badge swipes—and cross-check this with booking information.

Using a space booking system that provides reporting and insights into space use is extremely useful. A booking system allows you to set the hours of availability for spaces, then compares how often these resources are actually reserved and checked in. By recording the amount of time within available hours that spaces are actually booked, you get a more accurate reading of space utilization.

In hot desking or activity-based working setups, this becomes especially important. Without assigned desks, you need to know exactly which resources and spaces were used, for how long, and for what type of activity. For instance, a meeting room booked for six hours but used for two has 100% occupancy during those two hours, but only 33% utilization overall. Sensors might reveal that of 30 reserved desks, only 18 were actively used for more than an hour.

Tracking Technology Comparison

Organizations typically use one or more tracking methods to collect occupancy and utilization data. Each method has distinct tradeoffs.

Per CBRE research, 91% of companies monitor access-badge swipes, 32% assess corporate WiFi logins, 23% use ceiling-mounted sensors, and another 15% use threshold sensors. Importantly, 70% of companies now use more than one method to track utilization, recognizing that layering data sets overcomes the gaps in any single source.

When Metrics Mislead

Occupancy and utilization data can be misleading when organizations don't account for common failure modes.

Ghost bookings inflate utilization numbers.
Up to 30% of meetings are "ghosts"—booked but empty. Ghost meetings turn into zombies when recurring reservations are later deemed unnecessary but never cancelled. If booking software shows higher utilization than occupancy sensors reveal, these ghost meetings are wasting resources and frustrating employees who cannot book space they need. The fix: Set automatic release if no check-in occurs within 10 minutes; require check-in for all bookings; use sensors to verify actual presence.

Coffee badging masks true utilization.
Employees badge in, grab coffee, and leave within one to two hours to satisfy return-to-office requirements. Badge data shows healthy entry counts, but actual desk and room usage is low. Per industry research, almost 60% of office workers have tried coffee badging. The fix: Cross-reference badge data with sensor data; track dwell time, not just entry; focus on utilization over attendance.

Confusing high occupancy with high effectiveness.
A conference room with 50% occupancy at noon might have only 30% utilization across a full day if it sits unused most hours. Using occupancy (headcount) as a proxy for utilization (effectiveness) leads to mismatched collaboration and focus areas. The fix: Track both metrics separately; measure duration and purpose of use, not just presence; analyze patterns over time, not snapshots.

Single data source creates blind spots.
Employees don't consistently badge in, WiFi signals get blocked, booking compliance varies. Relying on only one tracking method creates gaps between data and reality. The fix: Layer multiple data sets together; combine badge, WiFi, sensor, and booking data; validate with employee surveys.

When to Use Occupancy vs. Utilization Data

Facility managers rely on occupancy data for big-picture, long-term decisions and utilization data for daily operational choices. Ignoring either can lead to costly mistakes—such as committing to a 10-year lease on underutilized space or leaving employees scrambling for collaboration areas.

JLL warns that while most organizations collect utilization data, few are turning it into actionable intelligence—a missed opportunity in a volatile workplace landscape. This disconnect underscores the need for facilities leaders who can connect usage patterns with employee experience and broader business outcomes, translating numbers into narratives that executives can act on.

"You must humanize the data." — James Duenas, Head of Global Workspaces and Facilities at Intermountain Health

Benefits of Tracking Both Metrics

Combining occupancy and utilization tracking enables cost savings, operational efficiency, and better employee experiences.

Financial benefits. Discovering that an entire wing of 20 desks averages less than 20% usage over a quarter could lead you to downsize the space—saving thousands in annual rent—or repurpose it into revenue-generating areas such as client meeting suites.

Operational benefits. A utilization study might reveal that small huddle rooms are booked solid while larger boardrooms sit idle. In response, you could split a 20-seat conference room into two smaller collaboration spaces, instantly meeting demand without adding square footage.

Experience benefits. Tracking both occupancy and utilization can help redistribute space so quiet areas and collaborative zones are balanced, avoiding both frustration and wasted real estate.

CBRE notes that utilization has overtaken cost per seat as a core KPI because it reflects whether your office setup is genuinely effective in supporting work. Despite smaller office portfolios post-pandemic, about 64% of global office space remains underutilized—a top concern for corporate real estate leaders.

Humanizing the Data: Practical Examples

High occupancy allocation but low utilization could indicate too many desks in a low-demand area, or a mismatch between space type and work style.

Example 1: On Thursdays, your office may be experiencing 95% occupancy. However, private focus rooms are only utilized 19% of their available time, while meeting rooms are 100% utilized. This could indicate that people tend to come in on Thursdays for collaboration, and you may need to make more meeting rooms and fewer focus rooms available on Thursdays.

Example 2: One hundred percent of your sales team may come into the office on Monday, but only 2% of them use the phone booths. This could indicate that either your phone booths lack the necessary amenities or that they are an unnecessary expense, as your team prefers taking calls at their desks.

Example 3: Your office occupancy is at 85%, but your team's utilization of the third-floor amenity rooms (nap room, golf simulator, kitchen) from 3 to 5 pm is at 2%. Consider limiting the hours of availability for amenities on this floor and turning off HVAC and lighting to save on facilities and upkeep costs.

How Utilization Data Improves Office Space Planning

Utilization data turns static plans into adaptive workplaces tailored to hybrid patterns (alternating team schedules, anchor days, activity-based work zones) and employee needs (quiet focus areas, drop-in desks for part-time commuters, collaboration spaces for cross-functional projects).

"[This is] data-driven flexibility." — Alexandra Selezneva, Senior Director at The Coca-Cola Company

Right-sizing. Avoid paying for space you don't use. For example, realizing that a 5,000-square-foot floor consistently has less than 25% utilization and consolidating it into one floor to cut rent costs in half.

Hybrid optimization. Identify peak days and rebalance schedules—adjusting certain teams' anchor days when data indicates that Wednesdays are at 120% capacity while Mondays average only 40%.

Experience-first design. Invest in spaces and amenities that employees actually want—such as converting a rarely used storage room into a wellness lounge after surveys and utilization data reveal demand for quiet recharge spaces.

Success Story: The administrative team at Trent & Dove leveraged space utilization insights to inform decisions about their office space. The organization was able to determine that a conference room they had considered gutting was, in fact, regularly used—much more so than the team had believed from anecdotal evidence. Thus, the team scrapped the plan to eliminate the room.

How Skedda Supports Space Measurement

Skedda is a workspace management software that helps organizations capture accurate occupancy and utilization data through desk booking, room scheduling, and analytics. For space measurement, Skedda provides:

• Automatic check-in to confirm whether bookings were actually used, eliminating ghost bookings
• WiFi-based occupancy tracking to know exactly how many people are in the office at any given time
• QR code check-in to ensure actual presence is confirmed
• Space Attributes filtering to break down utilization patterns by specific teams or space types
• Workplace Intelligence reporting to identify mismatches between occupancy and utilization
• Auto-release function that automatically cancels bookings if someone doesn't check in within a specific time window

FAQ

What is the difference between space utilization and occupancy?

Occupancy measures the number of people in a space at a given time—a simple headcount. Utilization measures how efficiently and effectively that space is used over time, including duration, purpose, and intensity of use. High occupancy does not guarantee high utilization.

What is a good space utilization rate?

Per CBRE's 2025 data, global average utilization reached 53%, with peak utilization averaging 80%. Most organizations target 65% or higher. However, North America averages 36%, and hybrid offices typically see 30-50% average utilization with peaks below 70%.

How do you calculate space utilization?

Space utilization equals the time a space is actually used divided by the time it is available, expressed as a percentage. For example, a meeting room available for 8 hours that is used for 4 hours has 50% utilization.

What causes ghost bookings?

Ghost bookings occur when meeting rooms or desks are reserved but not used. Up to 30% of meetings are ghosts. Common causes include recurring meetings that were never cancelled, placeholder bookings, and no-shows. The fix is requiring check-in and auto-releasing unclaimed reservations.

Which tracking method is most accurate?

Occupancy sensors (PIR, thermal, mmWave) are the most accurate, directly detecting human presence without relying on device connections or badge swipes. However, 70% of companies use more than one method—combining badge, WiFi, sensor, and booking data—to overcome gaps in any single source.

What is coffee badging?

Coffee badging is when employees badge into the office, grab coffee, and leave within one to two hours to satisfy return-to-office requirements. Almost 60% of office workers have tried it. This practice masks true utilization and makes badge data unreliable as a sole measurement method.

When should I use occupancy data vs. utilization data?

Use occupancy data for long-term decisions: lease negotiations, capacity planning, compliance headcounts. Use utilization data for daily operations: space redesign, booking policy optimization, identifying waste, and measuring ROI on space investments.

Next Steps

1. Audit your current tracking methods—badge, WiFi, sensors, booking system—and identify gaps
2. Establish baseline occupancy and utilization metrics for each space type
3. Compare your utilization rates against industry benchmarks (global average: 53% in 2025)
4. Identify ghost bookings by comparing booking data to sensor or check-in data
5. Create a decision framework for when to use occupancy vs. utilization data
6. Layer multiple data sources to get the most accurate picture of space use
7. Translate numbers into narratives for executive decision-making

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