The federal public service is committed to increasing assigned seating for its employees, even as the private sector moves in the opposite direction toward unassigned workstations and hybrid work models, according to observers.
Private sector trends
Private workplaces are increasingly shifting to unassigned workstations as the average North American company settles on a three-day per week hybrid model, a CBRE report says. The report, based on surveys of CBRE clients, found that only 25 percent of companies used only assigned seating in 2025, down from 40 percent in 2024 and from 56 percent in 2023.
Brianna Van Der Mark, CBRE director of workplace strategy, said the private sector is definitely moving towards more unassigned seating, a consistent trend over time across industries. The rate of unassigned seating is driven largely by how often workers go into the office.
Public service shift
Earlier in May, Treasury Board secretary Bill Matthews said the public service would move away from desk hoteling and reinstate assigned seating where possible. Then, on May 22, federal departments sent out emails to staff affirming the government’s commitment to assigned seating for the majority of employees.
The shift away from shared workspaces makes sense in the context of a four-day return-to-office, Van Der Mark said. At four or five days in office, unassigned seating becomes untenable. CBRE typically does not recommend it for such frequencies.
Unassigned seating at high frequency
“Four days a week you can get away with a very, very small sharing ratio,” Van Der Mark said. “At five days a week, you absolutely cannot introduce desk sharing.” Under a three-day hybrid-work arrangement, most organizations move to desk-sharing to cut real-estate costs while ensuring every employee has a workstation.
Government rationale
Assigned seating springs from meetings with unions, the government says. In a May 22 email to public servants, Treasury Board said discussions underscored the value of assigned seating to enhance collaboration among teams. Desk hoteling is currently widespread in government buildings and was touted for years as a solution to shed office space.
According to an Ottawa Citizen data analysis, at least 50 percent of staff at nearly 40 departments and agencies in the core public administration did not have assigned workstations in 2024.
