Depending on how a company views its office-space costs, a return to office policy can be an efficient way to go.
While long-term, large-scale telecommuting can allow some companies to shrink their overall real estate footprint, the majority that are returning employees to the office can significantly decrease their per-person costs through higher space utilization.
According to a new report from Density, a supplier of sensors, software and related services for offices, citing data from CoStar, per-employee rent costs in U.S. sub-markets in March 2025 averaged $10,600 for companies that had implemented RTO policies versus $13,500 before implementation.
The rent data doesn’t factor in potential increases in costs for food and other in-office perks, Density noted.
Density also conducted its own RTO study, based on data from 21 office buildings across major organizations in its customer network that implemented an RTO policy in the past year. The study, which looked at space usage for 10 weeks before and after the new policies kicked in, portrays mostly positive results but also some hiccups.
For instance, “some RTO may be performative,” Density wrote in its study report. Workplace occupancy spikes during the first three weeks of RTO, in many cases reaching the highest occupancy level since before the 2020 pandemic, then loses much of that gain over the following eight weeks.
Additionally, so-called “office-moons,” where employees get in every last minute of remote work, produce a 13% drop in occupancy the week before the official RTO kickoff, according to the report.
On the other hand, if one of a company’s RTO goals is increased collaboration, the policy is likely to support that. In fact, in the first week back in the office collaboration time increases even more and occupancy, shooting up by 40%.
“More bodies in seats means more spontaneous meetings and team huddles,” Density wrote. People say, “Oh, you’re in the office? Let’s meet in person next time.” After about six weeks, according to the report, teams settle into a new norm that still features significantly more collaboration.
The report noted that one concern for some companies implementing RTO is their supply of desks. However, the Density research showed that it has not been a problem. Offices see only an 8% decline in “wasted” desks, or those that go entirely unused throughout a day.
Of course, there are various nuances in particular RTO policies. Density gave the example of a company that shifted from fully remote to three days in-office. Occupancy spikes Tuesday through Thursday, while on Mondays and Fridays it’s declined below pre-RTO levels.
