Office occupancy numbers have hovered between 40 percent and 60 percent of what they were before the pandemic, says commercial real estate firm JLL. How do companies get employees back to the office despite work-from-home policies? Employers need to make working in the office just as comfortable as working from home. It's a concept called office peacocking, which is all about being intentional with how offices look and operate.

In an interview for the Owl Labs blog, Alejandra Albarran, vice president of workspace strategy and design for ROOM, a New York-based design firm, suggests that offices use "hot" spaces for loud or collaborative work and "cold" spaces for focus work. "\[P\]eople are now actually wondering how we can make better workspaces," she says. "And I think it's a good moment to talk to leaders \[about it\]."

"By making the office environment more inviting and comfortable, employers can create an atmosphere that makes employees want to come back day after day," explains Matt Teifke, founder and CEO of Teifke Real Estate, in a WorkLife article.

According to Owl Labs' State of Remote Work report, only 36 percent of employers have added upgraded video meeting technology since 2020. In that same period, 21 percent of employers haven't made any office space changes at all.

In the WorkLife article, Sukhy Dhillon, the brand director at E-Careers, an ed-tech institution in London, suggests "altering the colors in your office can be one of the most cost-effective strategies to improve your work environment."