The short version
- Services now produce roughly 65% of world GDP, about 75% across the G7 and around 80% in the UK, so most firms sell knowledge work, not goods
- In a service firm the cost base is people first and property second, and property is the controllable one
- Rent is only part of it: rates, service charges, fit-out and operations often double the headline figure
- Post-pandemic offices run well below capacity, so the same reporting that shows usage also shows the saving
Most advanced economies stopped being manufacturing economies decades ago. The World Bank’s development indicators put services at roughly 65% of world GDP, around three quarters of output across the G7, and close to 80% in the most service-heavy economies such as the UK. The pattern is consistent: the richer the economy, the larger the share of value produced by people at desks rather than machines on factory floors.
| Stage of development | Typical services share of GDP |
|---|
| Agrarian economy | 20 to 40% |
| Industrialising economy | 40 to 60% |
| Mature industrial economy | 60 to 70% |
| Advanced post-industrial economy | 70 to 85% |
Approximate shares of gross value added, compiled from World Bank World Development Indicators (2023 to 2024 values). Individual countries vary with classification choices.
Why that makes property the CFO’s problem
A service firm’s profit and loss has one dominant line, payroll, and one large controllable line underneath it: the office. For professional services, legal, financial services and software businesses, workplace and real estate cost is usually the second largest expense after people, and unlike payroll it can be reduced without losing anyone.
The full figure is bigger than the rent cheque. Total cost of occupancy adds business rates, the service charge, utilities, security, cleaning and amortised fit-out. Headline rent commonly represents only half to two thirds of what a building actually costs to occupy in a year.
The utilisation gap is the opportunity
Gensler’s Global Workplace Survey 2025, a panel of 16,809 full-time office workers across 15 countries, found workplaces improving but still mismatched to how people actually work, with noise, privacy and space availability the recurring complaints. Leesman’s benchmark tells a similar story from the experience side: the average office scored 69.5 on its 100-point index in 2024 while the average home scored 79.5, a ten point gap the office has to close.
Both surveys point the same way. Offices are neither full nor loved, and the organisations that measure usage honestly are the ones that stop paying for the gap. That is a measurement job before it is a property job: space management software tracking desk utilisation by day, occupancy by floor, and cost per desk actually used.
How full are offices, really?
JLL’s occupancy benchmark, drawn from client portfolio data rather than self-reporting, puts global office utilisation at 56% in 2026, up from 54% in 2025 and 49% in 2024, still short of the roughly 61% typical before the pandemic. So even after three years of recovery, roughly four desks in ten sit empty on an average day.
Occupiers have noticed. In CBRE’s Spring 2023 survey of 207 US corporate real estate executives, more than half anticipated further rightsizing within three years, 44% reported portfolio contraction since the pandemic began, and 87% of downsizers cited hybrid work as the reason. A small sample, but a consistent direction.
Where the money moves
Three decisions convert usage data into cash, and each has a vocabulary worth knowing.
First, the break clause. Break dates are the only moments a lease can shrink, and they arrive with six to twelve month notice windows. Walking into one without utilisation evidence means renewing by default.
Second, the renewal negotiation. Compare buildings on effective rent and cost per square metre of net lettable area, not the headline rate, and bring occupancy data as leverage.
Third, the portfolio decision. Consolidating two half-empty floors into one full one shrinks the real estate footprint, and footprint is usually the largest single saving available to a workplace team.
What to do this quarter
Pull twelve weeks of booking, parking and attendance data. Calculate cost per used desk, not cost per desk. Map every lease break in the next 24 months against the utilisation of that site. If the office is running at the levels most surveys report, the evidence for a smaller, better office is already sitting in the booking system. Our office space calculator turns those numbers into a defensible first estimate.
References
- JLL, Global Occupancy Planning Benchmark Report 2026. Utilisation 56% (2026), 54% (2025), 49% (2024) vs ~61% pre-pandemic.
- CBRE, Spring 2023 US Office Occupier Sentiment Survey. 207 respondents; note the small sample.
- World Bank, Services, value added (% of GDP), World Development Indicators.
- Gensler Research Institute, Global Workplace Survey 2025. 16,809 office workers, 15 countries.
- Leesman, workplace experience benchmark. Average office Lmi 69.5 vs home 79.5 (2024).
GDP shares are approximate and vary with national accounting choices; the World Bank WDI table is the dataset to use for like-for-like comparisons.