After years of experimentation with hybrid work, companies across the Americas are beginning to toughen up on their return-to-office stance. New data suggests the era of “soft” attendance guidelines is giving way to measurable policies and active enforcement, placing the CFOs in these organizations at the forefront of decisions that carry cost, workforce and real estate implications.
CBRE’s 2025 Americas Office Occupier Sentiment Survey, which polled organizations across the Americas, found that employees are averaging just under three days a week in the office, which is closer than ever to employer expectations. The challenge for all business leaders, however, still lingers. Organizations face uneven office utilization, rising competition for cost-efficient space and pressure from stakeholders to smoothly implement the process from an employee sentiment perspective.
The report also highlights a major behavioral shift: Attendance policies are not only widespread but are now increasingly tracked. Eighty-five percent of companies now communicate office rules, 69% measure compliance compared with just 45% last year (a 24-point gain, up 53% YoY) and more than one in three take enforcement actions — a change that adds cost and risk considerations to both capital and operational expenditures.
How policies and enforcement may reshape the workplace
The most significant shift is the rise of attendance policies. For CFOs, this likely means more resources directed toward compliance systems, HR coordination and workplace analytics, which may require funding and collaboration with the finance team.
Enforcement may also create a new layer of human capital risk. If employees view policies as punitive, companies may see higher turnover and reputational damage. The trade-off may be worth it for some leaders, many of whom may have employees who are currently “job hugging” and are unwilling to leave.
Smaller organizations are furthest along in implementing rules. Nearly half of companies with fewer than 500 employees report enforcing policies, and these firms are the only group with no gap between expected and actual attendance. By contrast, less than a quarter (22%) of the largest firms (10,000+ employees) report enforcement, highlighting how scale complicates execution while also raising questions about whether finance should fund stronger compliance technology or accept inefficiencies as the cost of doing business for a large organization.
Utilization gaps raise cost questions
While companies are closing the distance between expectation and reality, uneven attendance remains a challenge for many. Employers expect 3.2 days per week in the office, but employees average slightly less at 2.9.
Within large organizations, the gap is even wider. On peak days, 73% of offices are at capacity, but only 34% say they are full on an average basis. Two-thirds report that space is less than 60% utilized most of the time. For CFOs, this uneven utilization underscores the high cost of real estate inefficiency.
Offices that sit underused four days a week still generate rent, utilities and maintenance expenses. Headquarters and client-facing offices tend to outperform average utilization, justifying their cost, while non-client-facing satellite offices lag and may be on the chopping block in the name of consolidation.
Companies are adjusting strategies accordingly. Assigned seating is declining sharply, with only a quarter of organizations maintaining it in 2025 compared with more than half two years ago. Three-quarters now use unassigned seating, and by 2027, nearly three-quarters expect people-to-seat ratios greater than 1.5:1. Some critics of this strategy say it greatly reduces the ability for coworkers to socialize and develop relationships.
Flexible office space is also gaining traction, though growth remains incremental. Most companies still dedicate less than a quarter of their real estate portfolios to flexible space, but small firms are adding it to give employees choice, while large occupiers use it mainly to transfer CapEx to OpEx and hedge against demand uncertainty. Cost, however, remains the biggest obstacle. While flex fees may appear higher than base rent, CBRE notes they often include services that rentals don’t provide, making a full cost analysis critical for finance chiefs looking to plan the future of their company’s workspace.
The CFO’s role in attendance oversight
The survey’s message is that hybrid work is here to stay, but it is no longer unmanaged. Across industries, policies are being communicated, tracked and enforced. Utilization remains uneven, creating financial inefficiencies that demand sharper strategies around seat sharing and flexible space options. Competition for premium properties is also intensifying, even as overall vacancy is high, requiring earlier planning and stronger alignment between finance and HR.
For CFOs, the challenge is balancing short-term cost control with long-term growth and talent needs. Just as the survey shows employees moving closer to employer expectations on attendance, companies themselves are moving toward a more measured, data-driven approach to keeping tabs on the progress. Tracking office presence may be on its way to normalcy, and how finance leaders respond to that trend — whether through enforcement, optimization or reinvestment — will shape both the bottom line and the culture at their organizations in the years ahead.
