Downsizing
With flexible and hybrid working now commonplace, many businesses are reassessing how much office space they actually need.
If a significant proportion of employees are working remotely on any given day, maintaining enough desks for the entire workforce can result in large areas of the office sitting unused. Introducing hot desking allows businesses to make better use of their available space and can create opportunities to downsize, reducing unnecessary property and operational costs.
At any given time, how much of your workforce is actually in the office?
Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics show that hybrid working remains a significant part of the UK workplace. Between January and March 2025, 28% of working adults in Great Britain were hybrid working, rising to 34% among full-time workers. The ONS also found that hybrid working has gradually increased since 2022, while the proportion of people travelling exclusively to a workplace has declined.
For many organisations, this means there is no longer a need to provide a dedicated desk for every employee every day.
Hot desking gives employees access to a workspace when they come into the office, while allowing businesses to reduce the amount of space that regularly sits unused. By understanding average office attendance and providing the right number of bookable desks, businesses can make more efficient use of their workplace.
This can also create opportunities to downsize office space. If fewer employees need to be accommodated at the same time, businesses may be able to reduce their overall footprint and avoid paying for space that is rarely used.
Any move towards hot desking or downsizing should, however, involve employees from the beginning. Speak to your workforce, understand how and when they use the office, and make sure the proposed setup supports the way they work.
Once you understand the average number of employees coming into the office each day, you can plan the appropriate number of hot desks and make informed decisions about how much office space you really need.
More benefits with Door Tablet Hot Desks
Integrated with the Door Tablet system
Does NOT require representation in your scheduling system (MS 365, Exchange, Google Workspace or others)
Provides means to import your desks from CSV files
Fully administered using the Door Tablet Web UI
Provides full control over where users can book
Handles different time zones
Book for AM, PM or whole day
Occupancy level controls
Allows admins to set who can book for others
Allows viewing and booking of teams
Provides a variety of interfaces - Time Bars, Floor Plans, Calendars
Allows for blocked desks and dedicated desks
Translated to 15 languages
Allows for end users to upload their avatars, and change their language
Shows avatars in both Floor Plans and Time Bars
Provides easy navigation between allowed areas
Provides an easy floor plan editor
Sends email confirmations regarding bookings and cancellations
Provides help page to guide users how to use the system
Integrates to your ID management using SAML
Modify and brand the interface to a high degree