Hybrid working trends 2026 in Germany and the EU

Hybrid work has established itself as a stable model. Data from Germany, Europe, the United States and international comparison studies show a consistent picture. Most knowledge intensive industries work in hybrid setups with two to three days in the office each week.55

By Isolde Van der Knaap
0 min reading
December 24, 2025
February 25, 2026
Hybrid working trends 2026 in Germany and the EU

On This Page

Craft Solutions That Resonate With UsersInnovate to Stay Ahead of the CurveFoster a Community Around Your BrandInnovate to Elevate User EngagementTransform Ideas into Tangible OutcomesEmpower Your Brand with Unique Storytelling

Hybrid working trends: key takeaways

  • Hybrid work is one of the most common working models in Germany and across the EU. Employees work from home an average of two days per week and use office days for coordination and collaboration.
  • Two to three regular in office days have become standard. Teams set shared office days so colleagues can meet and projects can move forward.
  • Fully remote work is becoming less common. Hybrid work remains the preferred model because home office and office days support different types of tasks.
  • Companies use meeting windows and protected focus time to structure the day.
  • Office space is being redesigned. Individual desks are reduced and new zones are added for focused work, collaboration, video calls and breaks.
  • Desk sharing continues to grow because it creates space for these new zones and matches the irregular office attendance patterns of hybrid work.

Starting point: hybrid working trends 2025 and 2026

The use of hybrid work is far higher than before the pandemic and, after a short peak during the crisis years, has settled at a stable long term level.

The clear focus is on hybrid models that combine home office and office work with regular in office days. Fully remote work remains the exception.

Hybrid work in Germany

  • According to Statistisches Bundesamt, twenty four percent of employed people in Germany worked from home at least occasionally in 2024, almost identical to 2023.
  • Among those who used home office, twenty four percent worked exclusively from home, down from twenty six percent the year before. The sharp drop compared with 2021, when the figure was forty percent, shows that hybrid work rather than full remote work now dominates.
  • Findings from the ifo Institut confirm this stability. In February 2025, twenty four point five percent of employees in Germany worked from home at least part of the time. This share has remained consistently around twenty five percent for more than two years.

Context:

  • Germany is slightly above the EU average but below leading countries such as the Netherlands and the Nordic states.
  • Hybrid work has become standard in medium sized and large companies, while the share remains much lower in small and medium sized enterprises and in sectors where remote work is not feasible..

Trends in hybrid work

Hybrid work in Germany and across the EU will be shaped mainly by set in office days, coordinated team routines and well established workflows. Office days are used deliberately for tasks that require personal interaction.

Companies are adapting their office space to hybrid work, introducing clear guidelines and investing in technology that supports working from different locations.

Set in office requirements

Many companies are introducing two to three required office days per week. These guidelines are meant to create reliability and ensure that teams do not only meet by chance. The teams themselves decide which days make the most sense, for example for project coordination or planning sessions.

For example, a team might decide that Monday and Wednesday are their shared office days. Monday is used to align on tasks and Wednesday is dedicated to collaborative project work. The remaining days can be chosen freely.

Office days as collaboration days

Going to the office increasingly serves specific purposes:

  • project work
  • onboarding
  • in person meetings
  • joint planning
  • social connection

Employees come to the office because the team has scheduled workshops for that day or because a new colleague is being onboarded.

Guidelines for collaboration

Hybrid work makes it harder to sit together spontaneously and discuss plans, concepts or ideas. For many people a video call is not an adequate substitute.

  • set periods with no meetings
  • a clear requirement to document decisions
  • a structured approach to meetings to keep them short
  • guidelines for response times in chats and emails

A company might introduce daily focus hours from nine to twelve. During this time no meetings are allowed and no immediate chat responses are expected.

Changes to office space

Companies are redesigning their office space fundamentally under hybrid work conditions. Since many employees now come to the office only two or three days per week, fixed desks often remain unused.

This creates space for areas that match the type of work being done and give the office a clear advantage over the home office. The layout follows the activity based working principle.

Employees choose their work location based on the task at hand and may switch locations several times throughout the day. The main changes can be grouped into four areas.

Areas for focused work

Open plan offices often offer too little quiet. Companies therefore create zones intentionally designed for tasks that require concentration:

  • individual workstations with visual and acoustic shielding
  • use of sound absorbing materials such as textile surfaces, acoustic ceilings, partitions or large plants
  • phone booths and small soundproof rooms for video calls or confidential conversations

These areas ensure that employees can work without interruptions and that office days become genuinely productive.

Areas for collaboration and exchange

Many employees come to the office to coordinate in person or work together on projects. This makes collaborative spaces much more important.

  • open workshop areas with movable or wheeled tables, whiteboards and partition walls
  • meeting rooms in various sizes equipped with video technology for hybrid meetings
  • flexible team zones that can quickly adapt to different group sizes

Social and break areas

To keep the office an attractive place to work, companies are investing more in the overall quality of the environment.

  • lounges, kitchen and café areas for conversations and breaks
  • relaxation or movement zones such as fitness areas, quiet rooms or playful elements
  • improved catering options including canteens, snacks or drinks

Adapting the technical setup

Hybrid work functions best when the technology supports it. This includes hardware, software and room equipment. Many companies have introduced systems that make switching between home office and the office easier.

  • workplace, room, zone and parking space booking systems such as PULT
  • storage solutions like lockers, since fixed desks are no longer assigned
  • standardised ergonomic equipment at every workstation, for example height adjustable desks, docking stations and monitors
  • reliable video conferencing technology
  • shared document platforms
  • data on office utilisation
  • security solutions for working on the go

Example: An employee can book a desk for the next day via an app the evening before and, once in the office, has access to the same documents and tools as at home.

Using the hybrid working trend as an opportunity

Hybrid work almost inevitably leads to unused individual desks and creates an opportunity to redesign office space so it offers employees more than before.

When people are in the office only two or three days per week, many desks remain empty. The number of individual workstations can therefore be reduced, and the team shares a smaller pool of desks.

This frees up space that can be repurposed to add real value to the working day: areas for quiet focus, for collaboration and exchange, for video calls and for relaxation.

For meetings and teamwork, there are open areas with movable tables, whiteboards and video equipment. For breaks and social interaction, companies create lounges, kitchens and café zones. All of this becomes possible because a permanently assigned desk for every employee is no longer necessary.

The foundation for this is desk sharing. Under this concept, all workstations, zones and rooms are available to everyone. A booking system ensures that everything is allocated fairly.

In the PULT booking system, your employees reserve the space they want in advance and it is then assigned to them reliably:

  • workstations, rooms and zones can be reserved reliably
  • attendance in the office becomes visible automatically
  • utilisation data shows how the office space is actually used
  • check in happens automatically through PULT Presence

{{onpage-cta}}

Trusted by 1000+ innovative workplaces

Allocate your new office resources fairly and make them accessible to everyone. Start with PULT today.

FAQ

Have questions?

How many days do employees in Germany work from home?

Employees in Germany work from home about two days per week on average. Most do not work remotely full time but alternate between home and the office.

How many in office days have become standard?

In many companies, two or three office days per week have become the norm. These days are often coordinated within teams so colleagues can meet and work together.

Which tasks are best suited for office days?

Office days are mainly used for project work, in person coordination, onboarding, workshops and social interaction. Tasks that require quiet are often done at home.

Why is desk sharing so important in hybrid work?

Under hybrid work, many fixed desks remain unused. Desk sharing makes better use of these spaces and creates room for areas that are needed during the workday such as video call rooms, team zones, quiet spaces and social areas.

Which technical setup is helpful for hybrid work?

Key elements include reliable video conferencing technology, shared document platforms, consistent workstation equipment, a booking system and secure access for mobile work.

How does PULT support hybrid work?

PULT ensures that office space can be used fairly and reliably. Employees can book workstations, rooms and zones, attendance becomes visible and utilisation data shows which resources are actually in demand. This helps companies develop their office space with purpose.

About author

Isolde Van der Knaap

Hybrid Work Enthusiast and Account Executive

LinkedIn

At PULT we're designing the future of the hybrid workplace for companies and their employees. Focused on SME and mid market customers in Eruope, I'm working on everything from Customer Discovery to Onboarding. I'm very passionate about new work and moved to Hamburg in 2024 even though I'm originally from France.

Resources

Learn how to run better workplace operations

Office Insights

Open-Concept Office: Pros and cons, design, and modern concepts

An open-concept office is an open workspace where many employees work together without partition walls. Noise, a lack of private spaces, and constant interruptions are considered the biggest drawbacks of open-concept offices. However, you can solve these very problems through zoning, well-designed soundproofing, and skillful space planning.

Learn More

Open-concept Office: The Most Important Points at a Glance

✓

An open-concept office refers to an open workspace for multiple teams without fixed partitions and is one of the most common office concepts in companies that adopt a hybrid work model.

✓

The biggest drawback of open-concept offices is the noise level: noise and acoustic distractions are among the most commonly cited causes of loss of concentration and declining productivity in open-concept offices.

✓

Zoning, acoustic partitions, and sound-absorbing materials solve the core problems in open-concept offices because they physically separate areas for concentration, communication, and relaxation.

✓

PULT makes it possible to plan open-concept offices: Through Desk Booking and Office Insights, the software shows which zones are actually being used and provides occupancy data for space planning tailored to actual needs.

What is an open-concept office?

An open-concept office (or open-plan office) is a contiguous office area in which more than ten employees work in an open space without floor-to-ceiling walls. It differs from a cubicle office in its open structure and from purely open-space areas in that it has clearly defined functional zones.

How does an open-concept office differ from a traditional office?

Office types can be classified based on how the space is divided. From cubicle offices with individual rooms to combination offices and open-concept offices, the openness of the space increases gradually.

A modern open-concept office combines open workspaces with activity zones—areas each designed for a specific task. It is precisely this zoning that distinguishes this well-thought-out concept from a simple desk arrangement.

For hybrid teams, an open floor plan makes particular sense. When part of your workforce is working from home, shared workspaces allow for much more efficient use of space than permanently assigned individual offices.

What are the pros and cons of open-concept offices?

Open-concept offices offer short lines of communication and high space efficiency, but their main drawbacks are noise and a lack of private spaces. The balance between these two factors determines whether the space is productive or stressful.

What are the advantages of an open-concept office?

The advantages of an open-concept office lie in collaboration and cost savings. Teams can easily coordinate with one another; these discussions take place without the need to schedule appointments, and new employees are able to integrate more quickly.

Added to this is the financial benefit. An open-concept office with shared workstations significantly reduces per-capita office costs, especially in companies where a high percentage of employees work from home.

✓

Short lines of communication: Teams coordinate with one another without organizational hurdles.

✓

Greater space efficiency: Shared workstations reduce costs per employee.

✓

Greater transparency and visibility: You can immediately see who is present and what people are working on.

✓

Faster onboarding: New colleagues learn the processes by working closely with the team.

What are the disadvantages of an open-concept office?

The biggest drawback of open-concept offices is the noise level. Conversations, phone calls, and keyboard clicks all blend together, and it is precisely this acoustic distraction that is one of the most common reasons why concentration suffers in an open-concept office.

In a controlled laboratory experiment, a research team at Bond University demonstrated that typical open-concept office noise increases negative mood by 25% and the physical stress response by 34%—as measured by heart rate and skin conductance—after just eight minutes of noise exposure. In real-world office settings, where employees are exposed to these noise levels for hours on end, these effects are correspondingly more pronounced. (Sander et al., Journal of Management & Organization, 2021)

Open-concept office layouts also significantly reduce face-to-face communication. In two field studies conducted with Fortune 500 companies, the volume of face-to-face interaction dropped by about 70% after the transition to an open-concept layout, while email and instant messaging traffic increased sharply. People who are constantly visible to everyone tend to withdraw inwardly and turn to digital channels. (Bernstein & Turban, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Harvard Business School, 2018). The availability of private spaces is therefore an important factor in well-being.

How do I design a modern open-concept office?

A productive and employee-friendly open-concept office is created through spatial zoning based on activity, effective soundproofing, and space planning based on actual usage data. However, furniture and rules alone are not enough if the basic layout of the space does not suit the way people work.

How does zoning work in an open-concept office?

Zoning divides the open space into areas for different activities. This principle stems from the activity-based working concept, in which each type of work is assigned its own appropriate space:

✓

Quiet areas for concentration and quiet, independent work.

✓

Opportunities for collaboration.

✓

Customizable project areas for teamwork and time-bound projects.

✓

Quiet, secluded areas for breaks and relaxation.

This allows employees to choose a workspace that suits their current task and ensures they have the best possible conditions there.

What type of soundproofing is suitable for an open-concept office?

Effective soundproofing in an open-concept office is achieved through sound-absorbing materials and physical barriers. The combination of elements on the ceiling, on the floor, as well as room dividers and large plants reduces the noise level.

✓

Acoustic partitions between workstations block sound directly at the source.

✓

Large plants with lush foliage also act as natural sound barriers.

✓

Upholstered furniture and upholstered room dividers absorb sound.

✓

Floor-to-ceiling partitions in an open-concept office separate zones from one another both acoustically and visually.

Acoustic panels on the ceiling and walls, sound-absorbing carpeting and rugs, and enclosed phone booths for video calls significantly reduce noise levels.

In cases where noise levels remain high despite these measures, the cause usually lies in the use of the space itself.

How does Desk Booking help optimize space in an open-concept office?

Desk Booking provides the data needed to plan an open-concept office according to actual needs. Rather than relying on assumptions, booking and occupancy data show which areas are regularly in use and which, by contrast, remain empty.

This leads to specific ways to adapt the space that allow for the redistribution and management of its use. For example, if the area designated for quiet work is consistently overbooked while spaces for collaboration remain empty, this is a measurable indicator that the layout needs to be redesigned.

PULT provides the necessary occupancy data: This allows you to analyze the use of your office space, and employees can reserve their seats in the appropriate zone.

How to Turn Your Open-Concept Office Into a Productive Workplace

An open-concept office becomes productive through zoning based on activity, effective soundproofing, and space planning based on actual usage data. The open space is preserved, and its weaknesses are eliminated through the right structure.

✓

With PULT Office Insights, you can see which areas of your space are actually being used and plan renovations based on real data.

✓

Your employees can reserve a workspace in the appropriate zone and see where their colleagues are already seated.

✓

You manage capacity and attendance all in one place.

{{onpage-cta}}

Office Insights

Workplace Automation: What does it really mean for your office?

Workplace automation refers to the automation of daily, recurring office tasks, from desk reservations to visitor registration. For companies with a hybrid work model, the question arises as to which processes can be automated and how this can be done in compliance with the GDPR.

Learn More

Workplace Automation: The Basics

✓

Workplace Automation automates recurring office processes—such as room and desk reservations, attendance tracking, and visitor management—based on rules, without requiring employees to manually initiate each step.

✓

You can identify office processes that are ready for automation by three characteristics: clearly definable rules, a high frequency of repetition, and a measurable susceptibility to errors when processed manually.

✓

SMEs must ensure compliance with three requirements before launching: GDPR-compliant data storage, involvement of the works council (Section 87 of the Works Constitution Act), and adherence to EU hosting standards to avoid issues related to the Cloud Act.

✓

PULT is an all-in-one office management platform that automates desk booking, room reservations, office analytics, and visitor management, and integrates fully with MS Teams, Personio, and Slack so your office runs without any manual intervention.

What is workplace automation

Workplace automation encompasses all software-driven office processes in which a defined rule or algorithm determines the next step.

This ranges from automatic booking confirmations to rescheduling meeting rooms when the number of participants does not match the room size. In this way, workplace automation goes beyond mere digitization measures. Digitization converts paper forms into machine-readable data. Automation handles the resulting tasks on its own.

Which office processes can be automated?

Processes that occur daily and always follow the same or a similar pattern are ready for automation.

Area Manual Process Automated version
Space & Workplace Booking meeting rooms, spaces, and workstations by arrangement, via a list, or by email. Self-booking with automatic confirmation
Space & Workplace Identifying and Resolving Duplicate Bookings Automatic detection and rebooking in the event of capacity conflicts
Space & Workplace Send a reminder for your own desk reservation Automatic push notification to the user
Space & Workplace Coordinate Parking Assignments Using a Spreadsheet Automatic assignment of parking spaces based on predefined booking rules
Visitor Management Visitor Registration at the Front Desk Paperless Self-Registration with GDPR-Compliant Data Collection
Visitor Management Notify the host by phone when visitors are arriving Automatic notifications via MS Teams or Slack
Office Evaluation Track Office Utilization Using Handouts Real-Time Analysis of Office Usage
Office Evaluation Compile capacity utilization reports yourself Automatically generated reports based on occupancy data
Human Resources Management Manage Leave Requests via Email Automated approval process with status notifications
Human Resources Management Create and Send Onboarding Checklists Automated task assignment and access granting upon admission
Attendance & Planning Who is in the office and when? Check with them to find out. Real-Time Automatic Attendance Overview
Attendance & Planning Coordinate office days with the team via chat Rule-Based Scheduling with Attendance Thresholds
IT & Access Manually Set Up Access for New Employees Automatic Assignment of Permissions via SSO and HR Integration
IT & Access Access Control by Reception Staff Automated access control via app or badge
Buildings & Facilities Cleaning schedules based on a fixed weekly plan Cleaning Based on Actual Room Usage
Compliance & Security Manually Maintain Attendance Lists for Fire Safety Real-time occupancy data as the basis for evacuation plans

How does automated room and desk booking work?

For example, an automated meeting room management system detects when two people book a conference room that is actually designed to accommodate 20 people. The system identifies the discrepancy and automatically rebooks the reservation into a smaller, suitable room.

This reduces the number of conflicts over available spaces and frees up time for office managers that was previously spent on manual adjustments. Workplace automation via Wi-Fi check-in takes this a step further: As soon as you log in to the office with your device, the system automatically reserves your desk without a single click.

What compliance considerations must a company keep in mind when implementing workplace automation?

Automating office processes always involves processing data. Therefore, three points must be clarified:

✓

GDPR Compliance: What data does the tool collect, how long is it stored, and who has access to it? Booking data and attendance records are considered personal data.

✓

Employee Participation: As soon as a tool tracks attendance or workload, Section 87(1)(6) of the Works Constitution Act (BetrVG) applies. You must consult with the works council before implementing it.

✓

Hosting: EU hosting with a German or European data center circumvents the Cloud Act issues that arise with U.S. providers without an EU branch.

How do I get started with Workplace Automation?

To automate your workplace, start by identifying all the processes that, although they follow a very consistent pattern, are repeatedly carried out manually by employees. Review these processes and provide your team with software to automate them. The more processes a single software solution can handle, the fewer new tools you'll need to burden your team with.

1

Identify processes: Which processes take more than 30 minutes each day or regularly produce errors? These are the first candidates.

2

Examine the process: Is the current process already the best option? Or could it be streamlined?

3

Select a tool based on its integration capabilities: EU hosting and integration with existing systems are important selection criteria.

4

Roll out the changes gradually: Start with one feature—such as automatic room booking—and then expand to other areas after receiving positive feedback.

5

Review KPIs after 4 weeks: How many booking conflicts remained? How much administrative time was saved? How has office utilization changed?

Here's how PULT puts your office management on autopilot

Your workplace automations work best when they're bundled into a single software solution rather than spread across multiple tools. You can bundle workstation and room reservations, presence detection, occupancy analysis, visitor management, and parking management into PULT:

✓

Desk booking, room booking, and office analytics are all handled in a single tool, without any integration issues between individual systems.

✓

Automatic presence detection via your existing Wi-Fi system.

✓

Office Insights provide data and analyses on office utilization.

✓

Full integration with MS Teams, Slack, Personio, and HiBob.

{{onpage-cta}}

Office Insights

Huddle Meetings: How to make daily team check-ins truly productive

A huddle meeting is a daily or regular team check-in that takes no more than 15 minutes to align priorities and identify roadblocks. The difference from a traditional status meeting lies in its structure and in what you consistently leave out afterward.

Learn More

Huddle Meeting: The Basics

✓

A huddle meeting is a regular team check-in limited to 10 to 15 minutes, with three set questions: What was completed yesterday? What's on the agenda for today? What's currently holding the team back?

✓

The Daily Huddle meeting format works whether held in person or virtually, without an agenda document and with a rotating spokesperson. Anything that goes beyond the three core questions should be addressed in follow-up discussions afterward.

✓

For hybrid teams, team huddle meetings require some ground rules: cameras on, a fixed time zone, a breakout channel for follow-up discussions, and GDPR-compliant policies for recording.

✓

PULT, the all-in-one software for hybrid office management, shows moderators in real time every day who is in the office and who is working remotely. This provides a reliable information basis for every huddle meeting before it begins.

What is a huddle meeting?

A huddle meeting is a short, structured team discussion of a fixed duration (10 to 15 minutes) that takes place daily. The goal is to coordinate efforts. Discussions should be held in separate follow-up meetings. Each team member answers the same three questions:

1

What did I finish yesterday?

2

What do I have to do today?

3

What's holding me back right now?

The concept originates from Scrum, where the daily huddle is known as the daily standup. It is now also used by HR, operations, and sales teams, as well as cross-functional teams that coordinate across locations.

What is the proper format for a huddle meeting?

The huddle meeting format requires three key conditions to be effective: strict adherence to the schedule, the assignment of a facilitator, and a fixed list of participants.

1

Duration and Timing. The Daily Huddle Meeting takes place at the same time every day. Exceptions weaken the routine. The maximum duration is 15 minutes. If you regularly go over that time, you should consider whether parts of the content belong in a separate format.

2

Participants. Only individuals who are directly dependent on one another. Larger departments are divided into smaller subgroups.

3

Facilitator's Role. A facilitator keeps track of time and consistently directs discussions toward follow-up conversations. Rotating facilitation fosters a sense of personal responsibility within the team.

Element Standard Remote/Hybrid
Duration 10 to 15 min. 10 to 15 min.
Format While standing Camera on
Moderation Rotating Specified
Follow-up meetings Right after that Breakout Channel
Minutes Optional Note Short Chat Log

What changes in the team huddle meeting in a hybrid office?

In teams where some members are in the office and others are working remotely, three issues arise that could undermine the format: remote participants become passive listeners, discussions in the plenary session get out of hand, or technical problems delay or prolong the meeting.

Checklist for Hybrid Team Huddle Meetings:

✓

Cameras are required for all participants, including office groups sharing a screen.

✓

Real-time chat in the team chat during the meeting.

✓

Breakout session or a fixed time slot on the calendar for follow-up meetings immediately afterward.

✓

A fixed meeting link and time zone in everyone's calendar.

✓

Facilitating from a remote setting to ensure that remote participants are on an equal footing in terms of structure.

Clear hybrid work policies are essential for this model to work for everyone involved.

What legal considerations must companies keep in mind during their daily huddle meetings?

Daily huddle meetings count as work time and must be documented as part of time tracking. This also applies to brief 10-minute check-ins.

If you record video huddles, you need a GDPR-compliant legal basis and must inform participants in advance. If the huddle format is used for regular performance monitoring, a company agreement may also be required.

How to Make Huddle Meetings a Permanent Part of Your Hybrid Team

A huddle meeting is only effective when time management, structure, and the facilitator's role work together seamlessly. In a hybrid work environment, a fourth factor comes into play: transparency about who is working, when, and from where. Daily check-ins help to improve the employee experience because coordination routines become reliable and transparent for everyone.

Use PULT to see where your colleagues are working

PULT shows you at any time who is in the office and who is working remotely. You can also see your colleagues' scheduled attendance and receive reports on your teams' attendance. Desk booking, room booking, visitor management, and office insights are all integrated into a single platform.

{{onpage-cta}}

Browse all resources