Hybrid work: do we still need fixed desks?

Hybrid work has become firmly established in professional life. Between days at the office, working from home and business travel, employees are no longer necessarily in the same place five days a week.

This shift is challenging a model that was long taken for granted: one employee = one dedicated desk.

When some workstations remain empty several days a week, does it still make sense to keep a fixed desk for every employee, or should companies move towards more flexible, shared spaces designed for different uses?

The answer depends on the company’s activity, team size and organisation. But one thing is certain: with hybrid work, the role of the office is changing.

Key takeaways

• Hybrid work reduces the need for a fixed desk for every employee when teams are not in the office at the same time.
• In Luxembourg, 36% of resident workers worked remotely in the second quarter of 2025, according to STATEC.
• Companies can adapt their office space through flex office arrangements, shared desks or flexible workspaces.
• The physical office remains important for collaboration, client meetings, social interaction and maintaining company culture.
• Reducing the number of individual workstations does not necessarily mean reducing the quality of the work environment.
• The best organisation depends above all on the team’s actual needs.

Hybrid work has changed the way we use offices

For a long time, office organisation was relatively simple: every employee had their own workstation, which they used every day. The development of remote working has fundamentally changed this model.

In Luxembourg, this shift is now well established. According to STATEC, 36% of resident workers worked remotely in the second quarter of 2025. Before the pandemic, between 2015 and 2019, the figure was around one in five employed people.

Remote working therefore remains around twice as widespread today as it was before the health crisis.

This new way of working offers greater flexibility, but it is still important to understand the limitations of remote working when it becomes the main way of working.

For companies, this development raises a very practical question: does it make sense to pay for and equip 20 workstations when only 10 or 15 are actually occupied on certain days?

Source: STATEC, Work and Social Cohesion Report 2025.

A fixed desk is no longer always essential

A dedicated desk still has certain advantages. Employees have their own familiar space, equipment and an environment they can personalise.

However, in a hybrid organisation, this model can also result in a considerable amount of unused space.

Let’s take the example of a company with 10 employees:

• some work from home two days a week;
• others regularly travel for work;
• several work at client sites;
• the entire team is rarely present at the same time.

Maintaining 10 permanent individual workstations is therefore not necessarily the most logical solution.

Several alternatives are available:

The aim is therefore not necessarily to eliminate offices, but to adapt the number and use of workstations to employees’ actual presence.

Fewer individual desks, but more useful spaces

Moving to hybrid work is not simply a matter of removing a few desks to reduce the amount of office space. The risk would be to create a workspace that may be more economical, but is far less pleasant to use.

When employees travel to the office, they should find something there that they do not necessarily have at home. This could include:

• a properly equipped meeting room;
• a quiet area for concentration;
• spaces for collaborative work;
• a place to make phone calls;
• informal areas for conversation;
• an ergonomic and comfortable environment.

This shift is already visible in Luxembourg. STATEC’s new headquarters, for example, was designed with collaborative spaces, modular meeting rooms and equipment supporting hybrid working.

The office is therefore gradually becoming a collection of spaces designed for different purposes rather than simply a succession of individual workstations.

A physical office remains essential in a hybrid organisation

If employees can work from home, why keep an office?

It is a legitimate question. Not all professional activities require the same environment.

Remote working is particularly suitable for individual tasks requiring concentration and can work perfectly well for freelancers.

The physical office becomes more valuable when it comes to:

• working on a team project;
• organising a meeting;
• onboarding a new employee;
• meeting a client or partner;
• having informal conversations;
• training employees;
• maintaining a sense of collective momentum.

The office does not disappear with hybrid work; its purpose changes.

It is no longer simply the place where people go to work because their computer is there. Instead, it increasingly becomes a place for collaboration, meetings and professional interaction.

This shift also explains why hybrid teams need physical spaces, even when a large proportion of individual work can be carried out remotely.

In addition, a physical office is necessary in Luxembourg as a registered office for business activities.

Going to the office should provide real value

This development is particularly important in Luxembourg, where many employees sometimes have to travel significant distances to reach their workplace.

According to JLL’s Workforce Preference Barometer 2025, 65% of office workers surveyed in Luxembourg believe their office experience could be significantly improved.

The study highlights, among other factors, the importance of acoustic and thermal comfort, ergonomics, workspace design and available services.

In other words, asking employees to come into the office simply to perform exactly the same tasks they could do at home provides little added value.

Physical presence becomes more meaningful when it allows employees to meet their team, interact, collaborate or benefit from a genuinely suitable working environment.

Source: JLL, Workforce Preference Barometer 2025 – Luxembourg.

Is flex office the ideal solution?

Flex office is often presented as the natural answer to hybrid work.

The principle is simple: employees no longer necessarily have their own personal desk. Instead, they choose an available workstation when they come into the office.

This approach offers several advantages:

• better use of office space;
• greater flexibility;
• adaptation to changing attendance levels;
• the possibility of dedicating more space to collaborative areas;
• better control of property costs.

However, flex office only works when it is properly organised.

Imagine arriving at the office after a 45-minute commute only to discover that no suitable workstation is available. The experience can quickly become frustrating.

Companies therefore need to anticipate:

• the maximum number of people likely to be present at the same time;
• the busiest days;
• whether workstations need to be booked;
• requirements for monitors and other equipment;
• storage for personal belongings;
• the specific needs of certain employees.

Flexibility should not become synonymous with improvisation.

What about small businesses?

For a start-up or small company, the question may be slightly different.

Signing a lease for a large office capable of accommodating the entire team can represent a significant commitment, even though actual attendance may vary considerably from one day to another.

Take the example of a six-person company where only three or four people usually work on site.

Rather than maintaining six permanent workstations, the company could choose:

• a more compact private office;
• a few additional coworking workstations;
• a meeting room available on demand;
• a flexible solution that allows additional workstations to be added as the team grows.

This approach makes it easier to adapt the premises as the company evolves without unnecessarily committing to a large amount of office space.

Fixed or flexible office: how should you choose?

There is no universal model. Before changing the way office space is organised, it is better to look at how it is actually being used.

A few questions can help clarify your needs:

• How many employees are present at the same time?
• Which days are the busiest?
• How many days per week do employees work remotely?
• Do teams need to work together regularly?
• Do you receive clients at your premises?
• Do you need confidentiality?
• Is your workforce likely to increase or decrease in the near future?

A company whose employees are in the office five days a week will obviously not have the same requirements as an international team spread across several countries.

The right model is therefore the one that reflects actual usage rather than simply following habits from the past.

FAQ – Hybrid work and fixed desks

What is a flexible office?

A flexible office is a workspace that can adapt to the needs of a company or professional. It may, for example, allow the number of workstations, the amount of space used or the length of the commitment to be adjusted.

What is the difference between flex office and coworking?

Flex office mainly refers to an organisation in which employees from the same company do not necessarily have their own assigned workstation.

Coworking, on the other hand, is a shared workspace used by several companies or independent professionals, where each person has their own dedicated workstation.

Can hybrid work reduce the amount of office space required?

Yes, in some cases. If a significant proportion of the team regularly works remotely, the company may need fewer individual workstations.

However, it remains important to maintain sufficient space for meetings, concentration and collaboration.

Should all dedicated desks be removed?

Not necessarily. Some roles require regular on-site presence, specific equipment or greater confidentiality.

A hybrid organisation can easily combine fixed and shared workstations.

Why keep an office if employees work remotely?

First of all, an office helps demonstrate the company’s physical substance in Luxembourg. Having a physical registered office is important for conducting business activities.

The office also serves purposes beyond individual work. It enables employees to collaborate, meet colleagues, welcome clients, organise meetings and maintain a sense of team cohesion.

In summary

Hybrid work does not mean the end of the office. Instead, it challenges the traditional model in which every employee automatically has a fixed desk, whether they are present or not.

For some companies, dedicated workstations remain perfectly suitable. For others, a more flexible organisation makes better use of available space and responds more effectively to new working habits.

The key question is therefore not simply how many desks should be installed, but rather what types of spaces employees will actually need when they come to work.

Private offices, coworking, meeting rooms and more flexible solutions: Colors Business Center enables companies to adapt their workspace to their organisation and to the changing needs of their teams.