How it works
Right-sizing starts from demand, not supply. Teams measure how many people come in, on which days and to which spaces, then decide the working pattern they want to support: office-first, hybrid or remote-first. The footprint follows from that decision and from peak-day demand, plus a buffer.
It can go either way. Most right-sizing today removes space by consolidating floors or sites, but it can also mean adding meeting and collaboration space, or moving to a better building, when the current office does not fit how people work. That is the difference from downsizing, which only ever cuts.
The tools are consolidation, restacking, desk sharing and changes to the space mix, timed to lease events. Right-sizing is not a one-off project: attendance and headcount change, so the fit is checked regularly and adjusted.
Examples
- A firm finds its busiest day uses just over half its desks, restacks onto fewer floors and turns part of the remaining space into project rooms.
- A company whose meeting rooms are always full while desks sit half empty keeps its footprint and converts desk areas into small meeting rooms.
Benchmarks
Karger measured desk use continuously through desk booking and check-in at 30 to 40% (its Kadence story calls this both utilization and occupancy), which backed its move to one and a half floors.
Kadence customer story: KargerKarger cut its real estate footprint by 80% on measured occupancy.
Kadence customer story: Karger
Common mistakes
- Right-sizing to average attendance and leaving no room for the peak day.
- Using headcount or the required number of office days instead of observed attendance.
- Cutting space without changing how it is booked and shared, which turns a saving into daily frustration.
- Treating it as a one-off project instead of reviewing the fit as attendance changes.
How Kadence helps
Kadence measures demand and turns it into a plan. Workplace Insights reports attendance, occupancy, no-shows and heatmaps from check-in and presence data. SpaceOps scenario planning compares footprint options against that demand, guided workflows help consolidate floors or restack a building, and an approved plan can be published to live neighborhoods and assignments in WorkOps.
Scenario planning · Workplace analytics · Office space planning guide
Frequently asked questions
What does it mean to right-size an office?
It means matching the office's size and layout to how people actually use it. For most hybrid organizations that means less space overall, but it can also mean more meeting rooms, more collaboration space or a different location.
What is the difference between right-sizing and downsizing?
Downsizing only reduces space, often as a cost cut. Right-sizing sets the footprint from measured demand and can reduce, reshape or add space. Its goal is a good fit between space and work, with cost savings as one result.
How do you right-size office space?
Measure attendance and occupancy by day for several months, find the busiest day, decide the working pattern you want to support, then size space to that peak plus a buffer. Model options before a lease event and carry out the chosen one as a consolidation or restack.
How much can office right-sizing save?
It depends on how far current space exceeds peak demand, lease terms and the one-off costs of moving. As one example, Karger cut its real estate footprint by 80% on measured occupancy.
How do I reduce real estate costs without cramping the office?
Cut space where measured use stays low, not across the board, and protect busy days with booking rules, team days and overflow space. Test the new layout against your busiest days before you give space back, so the smaller office still works when everyone comes in.
Related terms
- Office consolidation Moving teams from several floors, buildings or sites into less space, then giving up or repurposing the space that is freed.
- Space utilization How intensively buildings, floors, rooms and desks are used against their full capacity over time.
- Peak occupancy The busiest level of use a floor or building reaches in a normal week, which sets the capacity you actually need.
- Scenario planning Modeling several possible futures for space, cost and teams, and comparing them side by side before committing to one.
- Real estate footprint The total space an organization occupies, owned or leased, across all its offices, floors and sites.
- Hidden capacity Usable space that accurate utilization data reveals inside the current footprint. It often removes the need to lease more.
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