The office showed signs of recovery, employers made long-term commitments to real estate, and leaders embraced designs centered around hospitality, inclusivity and sustainability. 

The workplace continued to evolve this year, as employers gained more comfort in placing long-term investments in the office and embraced everything from flexibility and sustainability to hospitality and inclusive design.

Here’s a look back at the touchpoints that shaped 2025:

Economic uncertainty became the norm, and commercial real estate began to bounce back.

The wave of constantly changing tariffs and geopolitical uncertainty sent shockwaves across the U.S. economy earlier this year, but over time that shock faded to fatigue and then stabilization.

By the year’s end, we saw the first real signs of recovery for the U.S. commercial real estate market. Office vacancy declined for the first time in more than five years. We saw rising demand for prime buildings, or those newer spaces with amenities like cafes, event spaces, wellness centers, and outdoor areas. Leasing activity remained healthy—nearing pre-pandemic levels. Companies were finally more comfortable making long-term capital investments in real estate, says Stefan Weiss, CBRE's U.S. head of office research.

“We’ve moved much more confidently towards a true start of a recovery,” says Weiss. 

Budgets were tougher than ever.

Even if tariffs did not affect the bottom line,  they influenced how people thought about spending on design inside offices, says Naoko Oguro, design director at IA Interior Architects New York studio. She saw a more conservative mindset with a prioritization on value and stretching each dollar.

“Workplace design is important, and it still is a driver and a draw for their talent pool,” she says. “So that balance became even more challenging for us to prioritize where that budget is spent. If you come under budget, you're a hero.”

New construction declined and demand grew for Class A offices.

New office construction, however, stalled in 2025 due to market saturation and tariffs that impacted prices of steel and other construction materials. Demolitions and conversions of older buildings began outpacing new completion.

“We’ve finally worked through that construction pipeline, or projects that were contemplated in the pre-pandemic days, and we’re seeing the total stock contract for the first time,” says Weiss.

RTO lingered and lingered…until the office became a true destination.

Did anyone think we’d still be talking about RTO in 2025? 

Maybe not, but we saw a lingering resistance among employees, and many organizations struggled to get people back to the office, even despite mandates.

“We didn’t expect that,” says Sara Dagovic, director of workplace design advisory at real estate advisory firm JLL Canada. “That really changed how people were designing their offices and what they wanted to have in those offices.”

It drove leaders to ensure they had a variety of “work points,” or places to post up for heads-down work, meetings, connect, learn or socialize, she says. Organizations also focused more intently on having amenities both inside and outside the office, whether it was a daycare, a gym, outdoor spaces or nearby restaurants. JLL’s team increasingly vetted office space to ensure the areas had specific perks, depending on the employee demographic. This went for ensuring there was parking and access to public transportation.

The RTO conversation also brought on more discussions about a potential 4-day work week, which in some countries and companies is becoming reality, says Sargent.

Another result of the RTO conversation—in addition to a pending talent shortage and a more diverse workforce? The rise of something called human-centered design. Leaders wanted spaces that worked for everyone, including the neurodiverse. This became a hot topic at the 2025 commercial interior design show NeoCon, and it evolved into a necessity for a growing number of organizations that aimed to attract people.

For instance, Arup, which provides laboratory testing for hospitals, designed its new Birmingham UK office around inclusivity and flexibility. It created a variety of work settings for neurodiverse needs, unassigned seating for choice and technology for more personalized environmental settings. The office also features wellness amenities, such as mindfulness zones, prayer spaces, and a parents’ room

“Neuroinclusion and designing for sensory and cognitive wellbeing are becoming pivotal focuses,” says Sargent. “And in all aspects of our lives, people are seeking spaces that meet their specific needs and enable all to thrive.”

Sustainability, biophilic design, and flexibility also flourished in 2025, becoming a must-have this year. 

“We start our conversations right off the bat about biophilic design,” says Dagovic. “We’ve been calling sustainability and biophilic design trends for awhile, but they are in every project.”

That goes for ensuring workplaces address overall wellbeing, as organizations tapped a growing body of research on how design can impact mental health, friendships, productivity and connection.  

All of this rolls up into a broader theme of “employee experience.” Employers borrowed from the hospitality industry to level up their spaces. Think: reception areas that resemble hotel lobbies, shared work hubs designed like cafés and co-working spaces and more on-site services and concierge-style are creating more tailored, curated experiences, says Sargent.

This experience extends to the commute and what it’s like to even walk into the office. JLL dubbed it “street-too-seat design,” and predicted this detailed design process would flourish this year. It involves a design process that considers every touchpoint an employee experiences from parking and the lobby to the workspaces in an office.


Oguro of IA Architects points to the oasis of the High Line in New York City. The abandoned railway was retrofitted to include beautiful landscaping and an English garden with places to sit and gather away from the busy street.
 

This experience extends to branding. More employers started incorporating their brand into office design this year, moving away from the basic logo and color scheme on walls to create engaging spaces that give people a sense of purpose and community and belonging. 

Artificial intelligence charged forward at record speed, and many organizations are trying to catch up.

Finally, the big story in 2025 was clearly AI. In the office and design world, it moved from being “of interest” to being a necessity. Yet many companies didn’t see the speed at which it would evolve, and they’re playing catch up.

Facilities managers are using it to determine smarter office layouts, hybrid schedules, desk usage, foot traffic and occupancy. Landlords are using it for lease proposals, due diligence, market comps, and modeling cash flow and returns as well. And designers and consultants are using it to determine better space planning and come up with early design concepts.

“JLL loves AI,” says Dagovic. “We can use AI to start doing some of the initial ideation for us, and we do vision sessions with clients. It helps us do things faster. It helps us pick out what might be important things we’ve missed. We’re kind of collaborating with AI, and I think that’s going to become more common. I don’t see it replacing what designers are doing.”

And on the real estate side, AI companies are driving occupancy and leasing in cities like San Francisco, which have tech startups and AI-heavy workforces.

Looking back, it’s clear that 2025 was a year of change for the office, whether it’s an uptick in leasing activity to the rise of inclusive office design. So what’s the next change on the horizon? Check out this piece on what to expect in 2026.