In 2025, the office isn’t just a place to work—it’s a space that needs to add value to people’s work lives. For hybrid workers, the office isn’t about clocking in; it’s about connection, collaboration, and culture. They will resent coming in just because they’re told to—but they will want to do it if it makes their work more effective and their relationships stronger - effectively, if there is a purpose to their being there.
In the public sector, where there is immense pressure on budgets and aggressive sustainability targets, the shift to hybrid work has created both challenges and opportunities with a notable budget line item - real estate. Space is often underutilized, and consolidating space between local bodies, to both reduce costs and help meet net zero, is something increasingly discussed, as people rethink how to best to use the space they have to meet cost cutting and sustainability initiatives.
The Public Sector’s Space Dilemma
With hybrid working now firmly embedded, councils and public bodies face mounting pressure to make every square foot count. Budget constraints mean that maintaining costly underused office space is no longer viable - either in running costs, rent costs or the opportunity cost of not selling off space which is no longer needed. Government efficiency targets and net zero commitments are accelerating the push to consolidate offices and rethink how public-sector buildings are used. Cost saving and efficiency are king.
Local authorities are being encouraged to find efficiencies not only within their own estates but also across other local public-sector organisations—police, fire services, NHS trusts, and government departments.
The challenge isn’t just knowing that space consolidation is likely possible; it’s how to do it in a way that maximises efficiency without disrupting productivity or collaboration. Governance of how the new, shared, reduced space is run is important.
Why Public Offices Must Evolve
The traditional model of permanently assigned desks is no longer fit for purpose in this new landscape. They do not offer value in rent, rates, maintenance, utilities or any other cost. Offices today need to function as flexible places of activity—places where hybrid workers come to meet colleagues, connect in person, and collaborate on meaningful work, the things that are tougher to do remotely. This means that office space must be flexible, able to accommodate different people, teams, and even organisations at different times or on different days of the week. A rigid, one-size-fits-all approach to workspace allocation simply doesn’t work in this new reality, and it offers poor value.
Instead, offices must be designed around adaptability. Meeting rooms, hot desks, shared collaboration spaces, and quiet zones all need to be available when people need them—not just left empty for large periods of time when a small group of people don’t need them. Further, the office must cater for the neurodiverse needs of its occupants - recognising that we don't all work to our best in the same environments. People won’t want to be in spaces that don’t suit their needs.
This dynamic use of space is key to ensuring that shared public-sector offices function effectively and that the quality of work doesn’t suffer just because teams are operating from a smaller footprint.
Technology as an Enabler of Smarter Space Use
To make this level of flexibility work, public-sector organisations need tools that enable employees to easily book and access the spaces that best suit their tasks, and those tools need to be cost effective. Spending a fortune to fix the problem is not viable.
This is where hybrid workplace technology, such as space booking and allocation software, becomes critical. Platforms like askAiB help organisations manage desk-sharing, meeting room and space reservations, and even cross-agency space allocations, ensuring that workspaces are used efficiently while still allowing teams to collaborate effectively. By providing real-time insights into how spaces are being used, these tools also help organisations make data-driven decisions about their office footprint, identifying underutilised areas that can be repurposed or scaled back to drive further efficiencies - or how to reallocate space more effectively after consolidation.
As councils and public-sector bodies navigate the complexities of hybrid work, cost reduction, and sustainability, the ability to create flexible, efficient workplaces will be key to success, and can deliver very significant long term savings. Investing in the right technology can ensure that consolidation efforts don’t come at the cost of productivity or collaboration—helping public services do more with less while making smarter use of shared space.
For public-sector leaders looking to future-proof their workplaces, now is the time to explore how hybrid office booking software can unlock the full potential of shared spaces—driving efficiency, cutting costs, and supporting a more sustainable way of working.
If you'd like to learn more about how askAiB helps, and in particular our packages designed to deliver exceptional value to public sector - we'd love to hear from you.
