DALLAS, TX—U.S. companies are increasing expectations for employees to work from the office, with 89% of respondents in commercial real estate brokerage firm CBRE’s 2026 Office Occupier Sentiment Survey requiring employees to work at least three days per week in the office, up from 78% a year earlier. The report was released on July 30. 

Despite the focus on office attendance, only 14% of companies are making major improvements to their office space, suggesting they are not investing enough to make the workplace somewhere employees want to be. The survey highlights a gap between priorities and actions among office using companies. While 62% of respondents cited enhancing the employee experience as a priority, nearly half (47%) of the 97 companies surveyed rated their workplace experience as average or below average compared with their peers.

“The market has shifted from whether the office matters to whether it delivers,” said John Morris, Group President, Advisory Leasing, Americas at CBRE. “Companies are asking employees to spend more time on site, but without the right investment in the office experience, the office risks falling short as a competitive advantage. Sometimes even smaller experiential improvements can pay dividends, such as creating dedicated space for different food vendors in the lobby, offering free coffee, adding white noise in open areas and providing more phone booths.”