The Office Must Earn the Commute

Evidence context

JLL reports that 38% of employees believe office experiences must improve to meet expectations for flexibility and wellbeing. Among employees positive about attendance policies, 50% say office presence supports better teamwork and 43% prefer working from the office.

The commute creates a daily value test. Employees compare travel time, cost, predictability and personal constraints with access to colleagues, resources, learning and an environment that supports the day’s work.

Amenities can improve that equation, but cannot substitute for a clear reason to be together.

Osmos Global analysis

Workplace leaders should design the office proposition around scarce benefits: coordinated collaboration, social connection, coaching, specialised environments and access to organisational resources. If the intended day can be completed more effectively elsewhere, attendance alone does not create value.

This does not mean every visit must be exceptional. It means the organisation should remove avoidable friction and make the purpose of shared presence visible in scheduling, space and management practice.

What this changes for decision-making The practical significance of “The Office Must Earn the Commute” is that workplace decisions must be framed as testable operating choices rather than expressions of preference. Leaders should identify the affected workforce, the work moment being improved, the constraint being removed and the evidence that would justify further investment. This prevents a global survey average from becoming a local design instruction and makes the decision transparent to finance, employees and operational teams.

The decision record should also include trade-offs. More collaboration space may reduce focus capacity; higher service coverage may increase operating cost; stronger attendance coordination may reduce individual flexibility; and greater data precision may create privacy concerns. A credible workplace strategy does not hide these tensions. It states which outcome has priority, which safeguards apply and when the choice will be reconsidered.

Leadership implications

Workplace, FM, CRE, HR and technology leaders should treat this issue as a connected operating decision. The objective is not to maximise attendance, satisfaction or space efficiency independently; it is to create an environment that supports defined work while using capital and services responsibly. Business leaders remain responsible for specifying the outcomes that workplace investment is expected to enable.

Implementation guidance

Begin with one workforce segment, location or recurring moment where the present experience can be reconstructed. Record employee perception, actual demand, environmental or service conditions and the business purpose of the setting. Design a bounded intervention, establish the expected evidence before launch, and compare the result across peak and normal periods. Scale only when the improvement is repeatable and material.

What the evidence does not prove

The cited research does not demonstrate that the proposed action will increase individual productivity, prevent resignation or produce a specific financial return. Survey respondents describe experiences, preferences and intentions; portfolio benchmarks describe participating assets and clients. Osmos Global uses those findings to structure a decision, not to promise an outcome. Any external website statement should retain this distinction and avoid converting correlation, sentiment or benchmark position into causation.

Practical actions

• Identify the benefits employees cannot obtain equally elsewhere. • Coordinate team presence around meaningful work. • Measure commute and arrival friction. • Retire amenities that do not support the workplace purpose.

Risks, limitations and unresolved questions Employee preference varies by role, geography and personal circumstance. A global survey cannot determine the correct attendance model for every workforce.

Source notes

[1] JLL. Workforce Preference Barometer 2025: Beyond Mandates—The Future of Hybrid Work. 9 September 2025. https://www.jll.com/en-us/insights/workforce-preference-barometer [2] Gensler Research Institute. Global Workplace Survey 2025. 23 April 2025. https://www.gensler.com/gri/global-workplace-survey-2025